Mercer Cycles, Fremantle.

I just thought I'd mention that there is a really good family owned bike shop in Fremantle, where the service is friendly and fast. The current owner has taken over from his father who ran the shop before him. They are great for advice and all parts and accessories for the new or experienced rider.
I think that it's really important to support small business so I am pleased that Clive and his family are doing well in therse days of rising fuel prices. Fremantle is an easy place to get around by bike and we all know it's a healthy alternative to driving short distances.
Their address is 97 South Terrace, Fremantle. (08) 9335 9536.
It's near the Fremantle Hospital.

Good things to eat in Fremantle.

*Gypsy Tapas - Highgate Court, High St (Cnr Queen St).
*Cafe 55, High Street - breakfast and lunch, Thai and other Asian dishes and your usual lunchtime fare.
*Juicy Beetroot, High Street - vegetarian and vegan lunches and treats.
*Culley's Tearooms - pies and pastries and sit down meals. The longest running lunchbar in Fremantle, favoured by the old dears.
*Manna Wholefoods, South Terrace, South Fremantle. Organic vegetarian and vegan lunches. Fresh foods and organic produce.
*Joe's Fish Shack.
*Frank's Gourmet Butcher, Wray Ave. The best butcher for miles. A huge array of delicious things. Organic steak, all chicken is free-range. He's one of those butchers you trust.

More as I think of them..

Food miles.

When you drive your car home from down the road with some asparagus, ginger or other fruit and veg it may be th end of quite a long journey for those items. A lot of machinery may have brought you to those vegetables. Tractors, trucks, aeroplanes, more trucks then your little car driving it home for tea. Many foods travel halfway round the planet to get to us, including those things that we consider 'fresh'.
Supermarkets now have to label the country of origin on their fresh produce shelves. This gives us the chance to choose whether we want to buy food that has used a ridiculous amount of fossil fuels before they were delivered to our local store, such as asparagus from Argentina or garlic from China and Mexico.
By electing to buy locally grown fruit and vegetables you will be reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from transport vehicles and supporting your local economy. The food will be heaps fresher too as it will have generally only been picked a day or so earliler.
Next time you go shopping have a look at where things are from; you could be suprised.

The Stems at The Fly by Night Club.

Nothing to do with gardening, I know, but The Stems have always been my favourite local band, so I was really pleased to see them play again the other night. They were excellent, yet again.
Richard Lane is still my favourite, even with his salt and pepper beard - quite funky really, I thought. I love his organ interludes and the lovely Rickenbacker guitar.
There was a bunch of sweet young things dancing down the front, 60's chicks in full regalia, beautiful. It was pointerd out to me that this was the first time my friend and I had seen them legally..they broke up before we turned 18. Our fake id's had worked a treat back then.
I was little surprised not to recognise a few more folk that were there.
It was great fun.

Eating local.

There are two places in Fremantle that make great food.
'The Local' on Paget Street in Hilton. They do a great breakfast or lunch and make great coffee. They source their ingredients locally, where possble, using free range eggs and good quality local bread.

'Gypsy Tapas House' in Fremantle is also delicious. Great way to eat - little plates of different delicious things. Great for vegetarians or people who want to try a variety of tasty meats.

More little local plants in the front garden.

After clearing a bit of rampant Rhagodia baccata out of the way, I put in two little local fellers from APACE nursery. One is Enchylaena tomentosa, a grey furry-looking groundcover plant with red berries that are quite tasty (though very small).
The other is a type of Calothamnus, another local, though probably from slightly further inland. It should be tough enough to survive out there, though.
Once it grows I can get rid of the stupidly big and ever-growing Tithonia diversifolia, which I'm a bit over cutting back all the time. It does have great sunflower size daisies in winter, but it takes a fair bit of pruning to keep it small enough for its spot.

Ahh, lovely clouds.

I don't want on harp on, but this bit of rain is great. It isn't enough to do anything towards filling the dams but it just feels good to have a bit of the stuff.
During summer it's just too hot and dry to establish new plants so it's fantastic to be able to go out there and grow a bit of food.
Growing your own vegetables and fruit is an important thing you can do to reduce the carbon emissions needed to provide your food. It's ridiculous that so much food is flown to us from other countries.
Buying locally produced foods is another way to reduce your impact.
The Fremantle Markets has a great selection of locally grown (and some imported) fruit and veg. I like to get exotic ingredients occasionally, but generally only get local grown.
Jerry's Organics has lots of good organic, biodynamic and conventional fruit and veg.
He's been selling veg there a long time. Good bloke!
There's a good organic health food shop down South Terrace, too, called Manna Wholefoods. They sell organic and biodynamic fruit and veg and dry goods.