Community gardens

GETTING down and dirty at your local community garden is a great way to meet people, grow food and have a great time getting your thumbs greener,

In Torquay we are fortunate to have the Danawa Community Garden which is run by some very passionate an hard working people.

Danawa recently celebrated it's 10th anniversary with a celebration at the garden. People attended who could recall when it was a large patch of grass and now with it's bountiful beds, fruit trees, structures, greenhouse and pizza oven, wow!

If you have a community garden nearby, it's well worth popping in, saying hello and getting involved.

Danawa Garden Update

THIS SATURDAY 10 am.

Danawa Garden's chairman, Perry with Leanne, Claire and John

at the vibrant community garden.

PICK ’N’ PLANT

THIS SATURDAY 2pm.

Weather permitting, the plan this Saturday is to drag the branches out where Council can mulch them up.

All welcome – pitch in and reap the harvest for your dinner!

Come along and meet other keen veggie gardeners in the Torquay area.

The garden is between the Surf Coast Hwy and the Torquay footy ground and tennis courts. See you there.

More info, contact Perry Mills on 0428 848 646 or via perryagmills@gmail.com

 

DANAWA COMMUNITY GARDEN FOOD SWAP

Rain, glorious rain!

Waking up to pelting rain on the roof it’s very tempting to just roll over and return to the land of dreams. But persevere, because rainy days in the garden are a bonus.

Sure, the chooks resemble sodden, feathered rats and water trickles down your neck or gumboots at least provocation, but it’s a good time to snare snails, check which areas of the garden are not getting watered due to overhanging branches or undulations in the soil and combat those that flood.

Last year when it seemed to bucket down for days on end, I noticed that due to a slope I had not really paid attention to before, the excess water was collecting in the lower right hand back corner of my garden. This is where the chooks are penned and they were not impressed. Fortunately, their coop sits on stumps around 30 cm high, so the girls didn’t need gumboots, but it was a call to action.

On the advice of a plumber mate I dug a one meter square pit into the compacted clay soil (it took simply ages and all I can say is that it was good for upper body-buildng) and filled it will scorier – now the water drains into the roots of the darn leviathan Cyprus pine next door which I swear has grown twice my height since. On the plus side, the path I also put in which leads down to the pit and is covered in crushed cement pebbles, remains drained and dry despite the worst flooding. I did put down sand first but this just swam away somewhere during the next shower.

Putting in the new path and pit by cluckingham palace to keep the girls dry.

Keep your thumbs green when it pours:

* Don your raincoat and go looking for snails. Collect them in a bucket and feed them to your chooks- they love ‘em!

* Sharpen and oil tools. Yes, your metal spade, rake, trimmers, secateurs and trowel all need some TLC about now.

* Pull on some rubber gloves and clean out your gutters and drains and add the wonderful, rich leaf mulch to your compost.

* Check your worm farm and compost bins are not waterlogged.

* Tidy the garden shed – or in my case, I have no excuse for not clearing out all the gardening junk hiding under the deck. Wear gloves, it's spider time.

* Do an inventory on what you need to get from spring – bulbs, seeds, new tools?

* Every now and again look up at those big black clouds and appreciate what falling out of them. Remember the drought?

CERES ahoy!

If you live in Melbourne and are thinking about getting down and dirty, head straight to CERES (Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies), an award winning, not-for-profit, environment and education centre and urban farm located by the Merri Creek in East Brunswick.

CERES stands on the site of a decommissioned municipal tip and is an amazing example of community in action.The site has a permaculture nursery, market and shop, farm and runs some amazing short courses and workshops.

Philly in Alison's garden would love to visit CERES!

Some of the wonderful topics covered in the CERES Autumn program include: potted gardening, edible weeds,  propagation and seed saving, beekeeping, bread baking, cheese making, home brewing, preserves and jams as well as some new workshops such as chook-house construction, cured olives, goat and gouda cheeses, pasta making, gluten- free, natural cosmetics and soap making.

Be one of the 300,000 people who visit CERES each year and find some wonderful ideas to find a new way of being.

Share the love…

Community gardens are a great melting-pot of your neighbourhood. Residents of all ages, professions and backgrounds come together to grow food, share ideas, seeds and conversation as they plant, weed and harvest.

When I rocked up to the Danawa Community Garden in Torquay, I was delighted to find a like-mined group of people who are some of the nicest gardeners I’ve ever met.

Some of the great people who keep Torquay's Danawa Community Garden growing.

Community gardens are places where people don’t give a toss about the car you drive, the size of your house, the brand of your jeans or which footy team you follow.

OK, they do care if you follow the Cats or the Bombers. But they are also places where the ability to grow really good corn, a sweet tomato or a fantastic heritage pumpkin far outweighs the size of your plama TV or which school your kids attend. As it should be.

If you can make a good, hot compost heap, advise on permaculture, chooks, bees or how to build a worm farm - or want to learn - you’ll be welcomed with open arms.

And while not everyone at the community garden may qualify as your new best friend, you’ll meet a fantastic array of people who really care about the important things in life; growing delicious and nutritious food, bees, worms, chooks and enjoying a cuppa while talking about compost.So pull on your workboots, pick up your gloves and prepare for a great gardening adventure!
Find out where your local community garden is here or if there's not one listed, contact your local council.