Disaster Bay Chillies

Bereft of another community garden to report on, Ms Tagalong thought you might like to know about this enterprising Eden venture. Certainly no disaster for the two friends Stuart and John who amalgamated forces growing organic chillis and turning them into award-winning produce.

They are not climatically as lucky as us in Newcastle and their 1-2 tonne chilli crop is annual, growing 15 different varieties together with 5 tonnes of tomatoes used in the various products. About 10,000 jars of each annually, Stuart told us, plus 10 – 12,000 bottles of wine. Half an acre produces enough for their needs. They plant 10% more than they need having decided to use no biological controls losing some to red grubs and ladybirds.

Ms Tagalong was initially seduced by the idea of sourcing local chilli chocolate after having bartered her last remaining bar for some bastard trumpeter at the camp-site.

For those unknowing gardeners, the bastard trumpeter (not an illegitimate relation to Winton Marsalis) is a very meaty fish.
Succulent and filleted, fresh from the sea, it very nearly made up for the ongoing lack of chocolate.

Back at the factory Ms Tagalong was disappointed to hear that the chocolate is only made in the cooler season and is in fact not much of a profit maker but an award winner, taking the best chocolate at Good Taste Awards in the UK.

Ms Tagalong hummed and hawed about what to buy:
Hot Chilli Wine – their signature product
Exotic Masala – Chilli sauce, spices personally blended by one of the two resident Indian ladies in the area

Spicy Kasounda – Indian Chutney
Chipotle Sauce – smoked jalapeno and garlic, a Mexican taste import. Imagine smoking these in the wood-fired pizza oven which we just must have!
Chilli wine liqueur – liqueur conserve
Lemon Stinger – Chilli marmalade, more a Zinger, said John, but the herbal teas have cornered the name on that one!
So what would you have done? Probably listen to Mr Ideasman and buy one of each!

Where on earth did the idea for a chilli wine come from, we asked Stuart?
You might say that Stuart saw a light, literally, after his stint as Green Cape lighthouse-keeper.

He had learnt the recipe from an old bushman he used to camp with and after making some brews he floated the idea to go commercial by his friend John, an organic market gardener.

John asked his wife, who said no. Stuart then gave John's wife a sample and she said yes!
The rest, as they say, is history with more and more awards stacking up and....you will be happy to know all products can be purchased at Newcastle Farmer's Market.

Although Ms Tagalong and Mr Ideasman were both offered jobs cooking the two giant kettles of tomatoes (8-9 hours, reduced with no thickeners)
they declined but did take the proffered manzana chillis, black-seeded to plant in the garden.

Now, who has a big kettle?

Community Garden Visit - Number 2

Ms Tagalong was, as usual, wandering two steps behind Mr Ideasman. This time it was through Moruya markets, when she spotted a small stall with organic produce.
'Is there a community garden in Moruya?' she eagerly asked.
'Oh yes, are you interested in joining?'
Sadly we declined but agreed to go and have a look at SAGE (Sustainable Agriculture & Gardening Eurobodalla) an enviable acre and a half just outside the town centre. Eat your heart out Treefrog Permaculture! Just the size for a city farm.


Sage has the aims of increasing the quantity of locally grown food and 'growing the growers', returning this area to the market garden production it was known for. Using sustainable farming practices and the co-operation and assistance of TAFE (mm, could be an idea for us) the 'garden' is still in its developmental stages.

We admired the rather grand crop of marrows and wandered around some of the smaller plots which the lady at the markets had explained were individually tended.


The market had run out of basil to go on the lovely fresh tomatoes so Ms Tagalong was hoping to glean some and had just picked off the tips of some flowering plants when a striped lady strode purposefully towards us.

Ms Tagalong clutched her illicit basil guiltily behind her back hoping the clinch wouldn't release too much of that undeniable basil smell.
'We're from Tighes Hill Community Garden in Newcastle,' we smiled.
Mr Ideasman talked and we found out that like most ventures, there is a dedicated core. About 15-20 participants regularly attend the working bees on this most fertile flood plain beside the river.


'We are lucky,' Ms Stripes said, 'some of our members are semi-retired landowners who have the machinery to keep this under control. We have just had so much rain and everything just grows and grows.'

Mr Ideasman and I admired a prolific unknown crop and enquired as to what it was.

'Oh it's just a weed', she said,'the whole place was covered with it at the beginning. I think there's a potato crop underneath.'

Standing nearly 1 ½ metres high with light blue flowers and fruit something like a cape gooseberry it was certainly most impressive. Pity it was a weed!

We spotted a solar-driven bore, a skeleton for a herb garden and an orchard.

Once Ms Stripes had gone with her lunchtime lettuce we gleaned a few more herbs and a very small lettuce, honestly it was very small and they were all threatening to go to seed!


Tiger prawns, fresh Italian bread, tomato and lettuce salad garnished with the purloined basil – a lunch fit for visiting community gardeners!

Community Garden Visit - Number One

This one wasn't even planned. Dropping off Miss Glamourpuss to her trendy inner city domicile now complete with authentic Chinese replica of French provincial bench, we got out of the car and she said, "Oh, there's Redfern Community Garden." And there it was. Off Young Street, off Cleveland Street. A little oasis in a disused corner of an alley behind the restaurant strip. Ms Tagalong was so excited that she had her trusty camera along and took a few photos of the beds. All raised, all in those modern aluminium surrounds.

"Are you a gardener?" Ms Tagalong eagerly asked a young man sitting rolling a cigarette with a bored white fluffy dog at his feet.

"No but I like to come and sit in here," he said. "There are so many of these unused spaces which should be gardens. I used to think they would all have their own little plot you know, allotments, but here everyone looks after everything. Last time I was here there was an old gentleman with a watering can and the time before I met a lady who was very worried about the curry plant!"

Ms Tagalong admired the productivity in such a small space, took some photos and said goodbye.


Next stop for this blog was another opportunity for a celebrity chicken or two. Stopping at Cafe Bella on the main street of Kangaroo Valley we plonked down for a cappucino after three days in the wilds of Bundeela(bogan country, don't you know)Ms Ideas(wo)man spied a grapevine clad arbour to the back of the cafe. Imagine her delight when she opened the french door to find an Isabrown clucking around. Friendly and expectant of food she was soon joined by a cockerel, breed unknown, with fluffy white feet and skittish behaviour.


"Don't touch me!" and in a panic he fell off the verandah trying to shrug off the embarassment with a loud cock-a-doodle-do! I fear I am fast becoming a chickenophile! Might even invite one to dinner.

Chickens galore

Ms Tagalong is so ecstatic that her work colleague, alias a Secret Santa, knows her so well that her present was an Oxfam chicken! It meant a little less wrapping paper and anticipation at gift exchange time but what a difference that little chicken will make to a family in Laos!
And talking of chickens, which of course Ms Tagalong is wont to do, have you espied the chicken lady of T.H? Wait, who is that I see with a plump chicken in hand or even on shoulder? Ms Designer will need a name change if this continues! She has been nursing one of the Isa Browns with an infected eye. This little darling, having had two weeks of pampering, thinks she can roost on the back of chairs, sit on shoulders and even attend dinner parties. Ms Mova whispered in my ear that she hadn’t prepared any special chicken feed and hoped that she had eaten before she came!
Ms Tagalong hopes that you and your families, chickens notwithstanding, had a wonderful eating time over the Christmas season.

Costa, Costa what does it Costa?

Weeds, apparantly! That's what we community gardeners are. Burrowing down relentlessly, finding that little crack in the asphalt, sending down roots, determined and resolute. Unwavering in our resolve to spread the word, grow the plants and be a community. Words of wisdom from a famous garden guru, Costa, who came to our fair town last week to be part of the launching of local PlaceStories.

Ms Tagalong must slap her hand for that hubris of a rising blush at seeing the home page of this little blog up on the big screen. How wonderfully exciting. Who needs thousands of followers in cyberspace? Here it was being displayed and featured for all to see on the website. And of course, more blushes, in front of Costa! What a thrill, what a celebrity to come and give an impromptu talk on communities and what they mean. He seemed determined to come back to Newcastle and see some of these wonderful sites and by the end of the night, Ms Mova, Ms Designer, Paint Pot Pat and Ms Tagalong had developed a whole itinerary for him to visit in our wonderful community.

Perhaps he should have stayed for the Christmas spirit and the elves' visit together with the heavenly choir who performed last Friday night. What a treat, even the tone deaf Ms Tagalong sangalong.


Later in the week, welcome rain washed the ground and refreshed the plants and seedlings hopefully planted by Mr Ideasman. He is patiently waiting for beetroot and according to Ms Tagalong he will be waiting a long time. The newly acquired sowing times and moon phases show that this is not a summer planting crop! The enthusiasm, the ideas! he's not called Mr Ideasman for nothing!

So off we trot exploring pastures new for the holidays. Ms Tagalong is determined to visit some other gardens along the way, to describe them and provide photos for your delectation. She does, however beg your indulgence, as the wonderful, long-promised broadband coverage does not yet extend to all of our fair land and especially to the wonderful, wild National Park areas Ms Tagalong and Mr Ideasman intend to visit.
Be patient. And anyway all of you will be enjoying the festive season, carousing and carolling and not be looking at blogs! Don't neglect the chickens or the plants though! They will be crying out to me if hungry or wilting!

That dratted rhubarb and garden elves!

Oh no, not again, I hear you say. Well, after Ms Tagalong's wonderful planting out of the rhubarb and Ms Mova's careful shade sail over the top, Ms Tagalong noticed in the hot chicken day afternoon that the Western sun rampaged over the garden under the sail right into rhubarb corner! One crown from the original plants at the other end of the garden next to the hopeful asparagus bed has been shooting up beautifully. So location, location, location Ms Tagalong and Mr Ideasman carefully transplanted four of the plants to their new location next to the other which is shielded from the afternoon sun and on the makeshift compost pile. Note: Watch what plants like where!


Ms Tagalong and Ms Mova were away this weekend for the working bee and breathlessly waited to see if any garden elves had crept into the garden whilst they were away and worked through the job list so beautifully written on the blackboard. Weeding and watering, tick. Mulch alongside the outer fence to increase chicken proofing, tick. Three new mulberry plants planted outside on the verge for our food forest, many ticks!
We will need to plan now what else can be planted underneath. Meanwhile the council continues to mow as long as the trees are staked.

You might be pleased to know that the salvinia has well and truly dessicated on the concrete where it was unceremoniously thrown last weekend. To replace this a fellow community gardener brought us some watercress .
Ms Tagalong thinks it is a special one but can't recall the name so if anyone can identify it from the photo please let me know. Apparantly it should soon colonise the bathtub and provide some good fodder.

Corn, as you probably know, should be picked once the tassels have turned brown and are easily taken off. Testing a few, Ms Tagalong started salivating, thinking of golden corn roasted on the barbeque with dripping butter and parsley. Tearing off the husks, she was extremely disappointed to find that only a few of the kernels had matured, not enough to eat for us but the chickens thought they were great!

Ms Tagalong was busy this morning doing domestic goddess tasks and stepped out onto the back verandah and was halted in her tracks. Dulcet tones drifted from the garden, or was it a CD played next door to get us into the season? No, it was the local choir practising for their second performance this year, Carols by Candlight in our community garden. Yet another prestigious event in our prestigious location.


Ms Mova has some chicken friends in England and they wanted our little darlings to stop being so greedy and be grateful for what they have. They sent us over this photo which Ms Mova intends to enlarge and place on the fence when they are cheeky!

Composting communities

As Ms Tagalong trundled the seventh, or was it eighth, barrowload of dessicated fig leaves and the odd shovel of moist, decaying vegetation she mused on how clever nature was and how we just don't seem to work with it.



The avenue of giant Port Jackson figs which line the street outside the community garden provide a year round supply of leaf litter to be directly placed on the garden to be turned into the soil, as a mulch or a good layer for the compost heap. Unfortunately most of them are swirled around by the wind on the tarmaced road or sluished down the drains and into the creek. What a waste! Be vigilant fellow gardeners, sweep up those leaves and turn them into black gold.

The compost heap Ms Tagalong made yesterday may not fully comply with the recommended structure but went a good way to utilise all our on site ingredients. Some of the existing mulch and horse manure and sawdust was laid down first, then the scrapings from the chicken huts,(straw and the topmost layer of earth under their boxes) leaves, wet newspaper from the bathtub, former home to the noxious salvinia, more leaves and mulch from the mulch heap on top. Reading the advice, Ms Tagalong thinks she probably should have found some more nitrogen sources but hey, you mulch and learn.

Yes, be aware and know that you are not on your own. There is a COMPOST AWARE WEEK! this was for 2008 but I challenge you to find out more and report back to the blog what you have found out. Imagine a whole street, nay a whole suburb composting together! This is what community is all about!


Or is it about brunching together. Those purists of you might not like the reporting of this community event held in a local park. But Ms Tagalong is so proud of one of our gardeners who organised it. The big brunch that is, long tables full of locals eating and sharing together. Apparantly we are going to involve produce from the garden next year more than the indirect contributions from the chickens, that is.



The chickens are being set to work and have been put into the tractor after now getting used to its presence for a few months. Yes, they were accustomed. Mr Ideasman lifted it up and Ms Tagalong popped in the chickens. Chicken number 1 looked around, scratched half-heartedly and then squeezed through the wire! Attempt 2, Ms Tagalong spied a much fatter one and popped her in. Happily we left two plump chickens scratching on the fallow bed. Half an hour later they were both loving the whole garden. Ah well, more chicken wire over the bottom of the tractor I feel.

And even more. We showed a film in the garden last night, nothing better than sitting in the gentle summer air, swatting mosquitoes, trying to concentrate on the dark dialogue in Atonement.