If you’re in Australia and have been thinking about getting a grid-connected solar power system, there’s a really good deal right now with Earth Utility. If you order before 15 December 2008, it’ll cost $2,500 installed (after rebates, RECs, etc and excluding utility connection costs).

WARNING: Earth Utility appears to be in trouble (updated 28-04-2010)

I just [...]

You may have noticed that I’ve put a moon guide in the left-hand sidebar of this site. It shows what phase the moon is currently in, but I thought it would be useful to put that into perspective across the whole lunar cycle.

The moon changes appearance in a continuous cycle, through 8 recognizable phases:

New [...]

I just read an interesting article in ReNew Magazine Issue 104 about the guerrilla solar movement and one individual’s experiments with his unapproved DIY grid-connect solar panels.

It’s not as dangerous as it sounds. Solar guerrillas use commercial mains power inverters which meet the relevant international standards to feed their electricity into the grid. You plug [...]

I’ve long watched other chicken-bloggers report their first eggs, and now it’s finally my turn!

When I came home from work today, I went out into the backyard to have a look at the garden and the chickens, as I normally do. On a whim, I opened up the door to the roost to check it [...]

Sometimes it takes me a while to get around to writing up these entries – last weekend I attended my first Illawarra Seedsavers meeting, and it was great.

There were about 10 people at the meeting. Being my first, I didn’t know what to expect, but the other people were all very friendly and welcoming. They’d [...]

[ December 19, 2008; 7:30 am to 2:30 pm. ] Plants are available to Wollongong City Council residents only at a minimum cost. This even will be held at the Wollongong Botanic Gardens Nursery, Northfields Avenue, Keiraville. Phone 4225 2636 for more information.

[ December 17, 2008; 9:30 am to 11:30 am. ] Learn how to make great Christmas decorations from recycled materials. This fun filled workshop is open to all residents of Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama. Participants need to bring along any interesting bits of scrap material, wrapping paper, ribbon and old cards, and IDEAS! This free workshop will be held at Glengarry Cottage, Reddalls Rd, Kembla Grange. Phone [...]

[ December 11, 2008; 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. ] Feeding your skin is just as important as feeding your body. What are you putting on your face? Is it safe? Are your beauty products causing premature aging? This practical workshop will answer these questions and demonstrate simple recipes you can make at home using herbs and fruit. Come and join well known [...]

[ December 11, 2008; 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. ] Come along and see participants of the Rise and Shine Campaign awarded certificates for their efforts. Special awards are also presented to groups, individuals and schools considered to have excelled during the year. Rise & Shine is a campaign to encourage community participation in a range of activities to improve the environment that in turn [...]

[ December 10, 2008; 9:30 am to 11:30 am. ] Learn how to make great Christmas decorations from recycled materials. This fun filled workshop is open to all residents of Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama. Participants need to bring along any interesting bits of scrap material, wrapping paper, ribbons and old cards, and IDEAS! This workshop will be held at Glengarry Cottage, Reddalls Rd, Kembla Grange. Phone 4262 [...]