September 2013 Newsletter

Hi Everyone,

See the link here for the latest newsletter: http://eepurl.com/FNsnL

Very quick post and now go back to studying.

Enjoy spring everyone!

Mark Cachia and the Transition Epping Team

September Bushwalk

Hi Everyone!

Almost forgot about this. Spring Bushwalk is on again and this time we will be walking from Boundary Road, North Epping to Ahimsa, the National Trust Property in Cheltenham. Details are:
Where: meet at Western end of Boundary Road near the North Epping Bowling Club
When: Sunday 8th September 1:30pm to 3:30pm

We will walk down towards the creek and then turn left to walk through the bush to Ahimsa the National Trust property at the end of Day Road in Cheltenham. There should be some wonderful flowers to see in the bush. At Ahimsa we will see the cottage and learn about Marie Byles who lived here. We will sit in the Hut of Happy Omen while we have a snack and drink (Please bring your own), before returning to Boundary Road. This is an easy walk and pretty flat.

Below is a picture from the bushwalk last year. You can see all the yellow pea flowers and wattles. Beautiful!

Mark and the Transition Epping Team

August Newsletter

Hi Everyone,

See the link: http://eepurl.com/DI2Hz to the new Transition Epping Newsletter and the date for the Weed and Feed event is still to be announced. Will let you know once we have set a new date.

Mark and the Transition Epping Community

Gardens, Recycling, Bushcare Oh My!

June-September Update ("the big one")

Hi Everyone,

Yes I definitely agree with the "Oh My" in the title as in "Oh My this will be such a long blog post" but I have decided I will cut it in half thanks to our trusty newsletter so it should be a lot less time consuming to read.

So onto the newsletter link http://eepurl.com/BjQ1T I will also mention a few of these topics here also. Firstly, our raised garden bed-making workshop that I mentioned in the last post was fantastic! Everyone had such a good time and it was great to a few people from both the Community Hub, Transition Epping and the wider community come along. They also already had a great harvest of salad greens. See the yummy photo below. Thanks to Kerryn and other for their hard work on keeping the garden going. Photo from the Epping Hub facebook group. Check it out sometime :).

Also, Sandra Nichols and I (Mark Cachia) are moving away from the area Sandra to the Blue Mountains and myself to Doonside to be closer to where I work. As a result we are in need of some new committee member to help bulk-up our team. If anyone is interested please contact Mike Duplessis on 0402 310 306 or at michael@greenice.com.au.

Upcoming Events

- Weed & Feed at the North Epping Car park garden and coffee afterwards.
10th August 2013 at 9.30 am, Car Park behind Roma Street shops, North Epping. Weeding the garden and feeding ourselves if you want. Only 8 days away!

- Spring Bushwalk Sunday 8th September 1:30pm - 3:30pm
Meet at the western end of Boundary Road, North Epping near the Bowling Cub carpark. We will be walking to Ahimsa, the National Trust Property in Beecroft.

 - Bushcare Major Day Out! Just realised its also on the 8th of September but there are numerous group on other days around that weekend so you go to one on a different day. Otherwise just have a jam-packed day and go to that in the morning and the Spring Bushwalk the afternoon. You can't miss that! ;). For more information see: www.bushcaresmajordayout.org

Community Information

Did you know that the Beecroft-Cheltenham Lions collect used eyeglasses and stamps? For more information see: http://lionsbeecroftcheltenham.org.au/activities/used-stamps-spectacles-eye-glasses-recycling/

Thanks for reading!

I think that is about everything. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Regards,

Mark, Mike and the Transition Epping Team

Transition Epping Update April-May 2013

Hi Everyone,

What a nice day we've been had today. Hope people had the chance to get out and enjoy it.

Onto Transition Epping info... First we are creating a community garden for refugees to help them out with their seed raising and vegetable growing at the back of the Epping Hub. Transition Epping are running the workshop with funding from the Bendigo Bank. The Community Garden at the Hub will be a kitchen/herb garden for all. This will be from 9am till 2pm on Saturday the 4th of May 2013. The Epping Hub is located at 6 Chester Street, Epping right next to the Uniting Church. Please bring gloves, water, a hat, clothes you don't mind getting soil on and sturdy closed-toe shoes. We will supply plants, expertise (in the form of Cameron Little and others), tools and materials for making the garden bed. Refreshments and lunch provided. Enquiries and RSVP Transition Epping Coordinator: Sandra Nichols 0438415715

Next we also have our new newsletter out! Check it out at: http://eepurl.com/yDhD9

Lucinda Coates a fantastic Transition Epping e-list subscriber is having a permaculture open day for her garden. See the link below. Its open from 9am-3:30pm they day after our Raised beds-making workshop for the Epping Hub. Woah! A really vege-garden weekend all round! http://www.permacultureday.org/event/open-townhouse-garden/

I have finally finished removing the flower-heads from the Transition Epping Roma Street  carpark garden's giant perennial basils. Phew! So many flower-heads and had to do it in 2 stages to stop the angry swarm of bees plotting their revenge on me removing one of their local food sources.While I was there it was really interesting to see some of the little organisms using the garden I saw a few pale-flecked garden sunskinks (Lampropholis delicata) basking in the sun as well as some little black native bees (tetragonula and Austroplebeia spp.).

Lastly, we have had a change in our committee, Wendy has decided she will no longer be with us as part of the committee but will try to still come to some events. Transition Epping thanks for all her amazing hard work as part of the committee particularly with looking after the table at our events and doing what she could for the Epping Community Bus and with trying to get a feasability study for some improvements done. Thanks Wendy!!

Think thats all for now and hope everyone has a good rest of the weekend.

Mark, Sandra and the Transition Epping Community.

North Epping Weed and Feed for February 2013

Hi All!

Seems like I've had a busy 2 weeks so apologies for the late notice but this Saturday 23rd February is our first event! This will be a Weed and Feed event at the North Epping, Roma Street Car Park Garden. We are weeding and feeding the garden with fresh compost and then feeding ourselves at Beanstop with coffee and cake afterwards. This will be on from 9am and should only go for an hour or so depending on how many turn up, so please do join us. All welcome. Bring along some gardening gloves and a trowel and take home some fresh organic herbs for your efforts.

Also, please see below a petition sent to me by a friend who is having similar issues with their local council regarding tree removal and pruning. Please do sign the petition if you can! Only have a few days left as their presenting it on the 2nd of March. http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/north-sydney-council-prevent-pruning-of-bushland-vegetation-for-private-view-enhancement

Thanks for reading and hope to have some more timely updates soon for our future events.

Mark, Sandra and the rest of the Transition Epping Team

P.S. Don't forget to email Sandra Nichols at: envirodoc@ozemail.com if you want to be kept up to date via our e-list,\.

Transition Epping Update 2012-2013

Hi Everyone!

Glad to be back to blogging as have finally found the time and can let people know whats been happening.

So since I last posted on this blog we have had a family bushwalk along the STEP Track from the end of Boundary Road, North Epping to Turramurra and back. It was a great day with a newly updated track put together by the Downes Street East Bushcare with help from National Parks and Council. Feel free to take the work yourself.

Another item in the second half of last year was the Recycled Art competition which was at the North Epping Village Fair. It was a great success with some very happy and deserving winners. Below are the winning artworks.

Leo the Fluffy Lion - Primary School Winner
(fluffy coat made from  plastic bags)

Mondriol - Open Category Winner
(Excellent use of  bottle caps!)

Zac the Budgie - People's Choice Winner
(Great use of bread tags!)

So all in all it was a great if busy year with many events happening and some great community spirit being had by all.

Now onto 2013!!

We have now had our Transition Epping Brainstorming meeting for this year and so have some dates for events that you can all have a sneak peak at :).

These are in calendar month order:

• Saturday 16th February - weed n' feed (Weeding the community garden in North Epping followed by coffee and cakes at the local dehli)
• Sunday 17th March - 'hug-a-tree' Significant Tree ID Day. The idea is to walk around the local area and take note of trees of local natural and historical significance. If anyone knows some history about  a special please let us know and we might even have you take part of the walk!
• Saturday 14th May - Roma Street Park Community Garden Workshop. This will be with Cameron Little who is a great environmental educator who had such a success last year with revamping the Epping North Public School veggie garden. Everyone got so excited and involved! Cameron will show everyone how to set up the garden beds which will culminate in the formation of another community garden. Afterwards people can take a sheet home detailed what we did and how we did it so they can do it at home.
• Tuesday 18th June - Film evening where we will be showing "Home". The film is almost entirely composed of aerial shots of various places on Earth. "Home" is about the diversity of life on Earth and how humanity is threatening the ecological balance of the planet.
• Saturday 20th July Guerilla gardening - Planting out the "garden islands" in Oxford Street. More details to come.
• Saturday 10th August -  Local craft and produce trail around North Epping. Honey, dyes etc.
• Sunday 8th September - Family bushwalk from North Epping to Pennant Hills Park.
• Sunday 13th October - Workshop - potentially beer making.
• November 2013 - North Epping Street Fair and Art Prize. Potentially also the Twilight Markets.

Thanks everyone who is still reading after a mega-post of Transition Epping goodness!

Hope everyone had a sustainable and community-filled Christmas and have a fantastic 2013.

Till next time!

Mark, Sandra and the rest of the Transition Epping Team for 2013.