Community Groups

It’s almost five months since the ‘megafire’ burnt through the native section of Blackheath’s Campbell Rhododendron Gardens on the 21st December 2019, leaving Blackheathens with a charred landscape and a charred psyche.     The Fires were followed by flooding rains in early February which removed much of the top soil. Stones were left suspended on tiny sandstone towers … …

  Left alone to do its thing, nature creates the most extraordinarily biodiverse ecosystems. One of the world’s most respected biologists, E O Wilson, said that we needed to set aside half the world for nature so that it could support and regenerate enough biodiversity to support all life on earth.     Check out just what nature is capable …

  Last night we had the most delicious buckwheat pasta with parsley pesto and caramelized pumpkin. While we usually associate pesto with basil and summer, pesto’s lusciousness can be created with many different greens and nuts. You can make pesto with parsley, oregano, mint or many other edible greens … why not experiment with combining a few. I don’t, however, …

Food, mothers and kindness bring people together – even during a pandemic. Tonight I felt nurtured by my mother’s dearest friend in Blackheath, who sent me home with a brown paper bag filled with small jars of medlar and quince jellies to taste test. She was eager for me to compare the two.   Carole Lee My mother used to …

After devastation, the restorative forces of nature begin the process of healing. On the 22nd December 2019, Australia’s biggest forest fire, which had already destroyed an area seven times the size of Singapore, raced up the gully below Clarence St and burnt to within 10m of Eva and Bill Johnstone’s property, just above Pope’s Glen in Blackheath. It burnt all …

  It’s late Autumn in Blackheath and this morning I enjoyed figs and raspberries from the garden for breakfast. I’m currently picking both red and apricot raspberries. What’s great about the apricot ones is that so far I still haven’t had to net them … unlike the red ones!     I’m growing two varieties of figs – Brown Turkey …

  There’s nothing like a warming cuppa when the wind howls and snow threatens. Even better is filling the house with the fragrance of a summer garden. With frost forecast for Monday, I braved the elements in my backyard and harvested large bunches of lemon verbena, lemon balm, mint, sage, and my remaining fennel seeds to ensure I had enough …

Our main Lockdown Project at home has been to build a Greenhouse to tide us (and Blackheath Community Farm) over winter. We are totally in love with it!   Our new greenhouse   In an ideal world we would have used recycled materials but, given how difficult it was to access them in Lockdown, we decided that supporting our local …

This autumn has been such a great season for foraging in Blackheath. We harvested our first saffron milk cap and slippery jack mushrooms on February 26 and have still been finding more this week … that’s over 2 months.     At Blackheath Community Farm, perhaps because we’ve put down so much woodchip for our paths, we’ve had a wider …

  Each year at Blackheath Community Farm we find ourselves experimenting with new plants that we just can’t wait to grow again! This season, we’ve been particularly delighted by Barry’s Crazy Cherry tomatoes (plants donated to the Farm by Hillier Windsor), a Mini White Cucumber (seeds donated by Eva and Bill Johnstone), a Chilli plant donated by Hayley and Ben …