Daylesford Community Food Garden

Signs for the future

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 22:03:00 +0000

After several months of rich unsettlement we came again to garden together. Many signs help us in a community garden. Informing, handing over, and gathering knowledges and skills such as 'writing up a jobs list.'

Some signs let folk know about the ethics of the garden,

and some about what is going on in places that look like not much is happening,

When new beds are planted they are vulnerable to many things. Our tending and the chance tending of kindly community folk bring gifts to this garden of love.

Some signs give simple insights. It's not that Thai basil is anti life, rather our medical culture, like the dominant culture it springs from, is simplistically human centric. Learning to become hardy and resilient participants of life brings many insights and gifts.

Some signs encourage spontaneous participation,

some sing praise to other-than-human agency and service,

and others alert us to future abundance.

When we water today for tomorrow's fare, fare that we may not even get to eat ourselves, we too become participants in service to the living of the world.

Letting others know when we've last watered is again another way of handing over precious information in order to save precious resources.

Directing kitchen wastes to our community compost hub to make enriched soils for future food is true money in the bank. If the virus has taught us anything, it is how vulnerable industrial food chains are.

We planted this weeping mulberry several years ago for children's play. This little nook doesn't need a written sign to invite children in.

Reading can reduce our capacity to play and experience life in the present. Some places are better without signs.

Many thanks to Jen, Meg, Andrew, Ruth, Tyson, Fe, Jasmine, Jasper, Woody, Fab, Luna, Archie, Elias, Solaris and Apollo for helping in the garden this month. And big thanks to Patrick for organising and facilitating the working bees and communications in the garden. When we come together our souls and our soils are lifted, turned and enriched.

And when we garden on Djaara land we know that it always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

Returning the suburban to the sacred: a commons of apples and people

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 00:49:00 +0000

It's been twenty years since Patrick planted the library apples. Last Saturday, at our monthly working bee, we celebrated these giving trees, the community who have tended them and their grand pruner, Ian Clarke.

The next working bee is on the 12 July.

February working bee in pics

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Sat, 23 Feb 2019 22:11:00 +0000

Hello and welcome to the photo documentation of our recent working bee at the Albert St garden. A huge grazie to Mara Ripani for taking these photos that so beautifully capture the people and energy of the unseasonably cold summer's day.

A small offering of beauty and decay:

John dead heads the older plants and lays them down as mulch.

Jacques and Natalia gather fallen apples.

Kirsten and Meg discuss apple cider vinegar recipes.

In quiet praise of the apple trees.

Rosa weeds.

Tom sings up the world.

Oscar looks for Zero.

Together we work, and honour the soil and seasons and strength of our collective efforts.

Mara took a whole heap of the fallen apples we collected and kindly dropped them off to the Jonai Farm pigs to enjoy. The rest were composted on site to help make new soil to feed back to the trees.

Did you know community gardener Patrick Jones planted the apple trees outside the library 20 years ago? To celebrate, we are planning a celebration of community food and honouring of the apple trees. Stay tuned for more details..

See you all at the next working bee on Saturday March 9.

New Years planting day at Daylesford's Community Park

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 08:44:00 +0000

On January 12 we shared tools,

smiles,

and various kinds of labour. You see, we were given a wad of money from Spa Country Events for our participation in the 2018 Daylesford NYE Parade.

We came up with a moving food forest as our float. You can see our shenanigans here. The idea was that our temporary float would be converted into a permanent benefit for the community. The community park garden needed some lovin', so we decided this would be the garden we renewed with the plants. First we had to scratch out many weeds and dead head the perennials.

We also had to be there to receive another big gift from local arborist, Scott Little. Thanks for the mature mulch Scott!

Now with our materials on site it was time to start loosening the terra,

to bed down the gifted plants.

We know from experience that many hands make light work,

and many skyward thumbs popped up over the few hours we gathered for yet another community permablitz.

It was a songful time of peasant labours,

peasant labours reclaimed in a casual sunglasses kinda era,

A hot morning meant broad hats accompanied ever broadening feelings,

and we kept cool with the spray of the hose,

before mulch time to trap in all that moistness. With a wheelbarrow train we moved three cubic metres in no time.

We worked from morning till lunch to finish the job, then posed for this photo:

Thanks (from left) Django, Maya, Sian, Woody, Julian, Meg, Nick, Leah, Patrick, Kirsten, John, Brenna, Jeremy, Josh, Nick, Lyra and Michelle (all pictured), and Scott (who gifted and delivered the well composted mulch) and Pete, who had to leave early.

NYE – community gardeners style

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Thu, 10 Jan 2019 23:11:00 +0000

Happy New Year!

2018 'Thank You' Bee

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 10:46:00 +0000

Thank you to the broad beans that fed our bellies and enriched our soils with nitrogen.

Thank you trees that so generously shared their gifts.

Thank you friends from near and far who volunteered their time and intentions.

Thank you to the flowers and countless pollinators.

Thank you to the people who donated seedlings for prosperity and sovereignty.

Thank you to those who came and cheered us from the sidelines.

Thank you sharp minds, sharp tools.

Thank you for your energy and enthusiasm.

Thank you for sharing your cabbage stems.

Thank you to our bodies that laboured our love.

Thank you to our love that laboured our bodies.

Thank you Mother Earth for receiving, enabling and sharing. We honour your food and seasonality and literally owe our lives to your gifts. We love you.

* * *

Happy solstice season one and all!

The community gardeners are once again going to participate in this year's Daylesford NYE parade. If you'd like to join us, please stay tuned for more deets.

Here's us at last year's event:

November bee: a floral affair

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 21:16:00 +0000

A working bee usually starts off nice and slow.

A chat,

a smile or two,

before the labour begins.

The labour of reclaiming,

of celebrating,

of sharing,

of togetherness

of quenching,

of replenishing,

of being,

of building,

of enacting,

of planting,

of becoming,

of thanking the mother for her providing.

And thank you once again to Mara Ripani for taking these lovely photos and for sharing your surplus tomato seedlings with us. Thank you Anna and Ben and Artist as Family for your seedlings too!

See you all at the next bee! December 8th from 9am - 12pm at the garden beside the library.

We are also planning to be in the NYE parade again this year so start your op-shop raiding for colour-filled costumes.

October Bee

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Sun, 14 Oct 2018 21:24:00 +0000

A participatory bee.

A maternal bee.

An experienced bee.

A visiting bee.

A hungry bee.

A learning bee.

A wise bee.

A working bee.

A welcoming bee.

A communal bee.

A familial bee.

A generous bee.

A free bee.

A sunny bee.

A creative bee.

A beautiful bee.

A flirty bee.

A busy bee.

Thank you to everyone who came along! What a beautiful, communal and fun day.

See you at next month's bee: Saturday November 10 from 9am - 12pm.

Also, we hope to see you at Land for Life this coming Sunday. More info about the event here.

Blossom, buds and bees

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 04:25:00 +0000

Today's working bee was a joyous celebration for these inconspicuous seedlings. We worked for three hours preparing and sharing and learning and gifting, to make the earth just right for their arrival.

We brought straw bales.

We brought new soil.

We brought creativity

and danger.

We made connections.

We sang songs.

We showed off.

We made friends.

We laughed.

We loved.

We brought gifts to share.

We shared.

We were generous.

We rested.

We welcomed the seedlings into our family and were welcomed, lovingly, in return.

June working bee

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 22:35:00 +0000

Despite the cold, we turned up.

Despite the chill, we warmed ourselves,

we took responsibility for our actions,

we dug holes to plant more life,

we got down and dirty,

we worked together,

we laughed,

we shared,

we taught,

we learned,

we looked deep into the future,

we planted,

we explored,

we held hands and joined in,

we pondered,

we uncovered secrets,

we shared longings,

we dreamed,

we united,

we restored,

and we were wondrous.

May Bee, Baby...

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Sat, 12 May 2018 04:14:00 +0000

What does community resilience look like on a wet autumn day?

It looks like Mara's enthusiasm for being a participant in life.

It looks like Patrick's drive to make organic food accessible for everyone.

It looks like Woody's wanting to create the world he wants to live in now and when he's older.

It looks like Meg celebrating all that is free in the world.

It looks like Cam encouraging his sons Otto and Rennie to be gift makers in the community that supports them, and Joseph (left) distributing broad beans for future meals.

It looks like a healthy being like Zero, (who has never eaten food from a packet or can).

It looks like Ian, in his 70s, who has come along to share his elder wisdom with us all.

It looks like non-monetised gifts shared from Mara's home garden.

It looks like a place of learning, participation, sharing and belonging.

It looks like a place of quiet contemplation, where everyone is welcomed and accepted.

It looks like a place where skills are shared.

It looks like Kirsten's home grown seeds + seedlings that were loved into being and will continue to spread love in the world.

It looks like an artwork where creativity is expressed and hopes for the future will sprout.

February Working Bee

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 21:09:00 +0000

What another joyous bee! Thank you to everyone who came along to celebrate the soil, and the collective spirit of the communities of life. Thank you to Mara Ripani for facilitating the bee, and for taking these photos:

See you all on March 10 for another bee as we prepare the beds for the cooler months.

NYE Parade, the video

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 22:21:00 +0000

Biodiversity-biointensity: New Year's Eve Parade 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 10:40:00 +0000

For we community gardeners this year's theme for the Daylesford New Year's Eve Parade was Biodiversity-Biointensity, so we got to work, made signs,

found treasures at the Daylesford Community Opshop,

got dressed and ate together,

made last minute costume adjustments,

took some group pics,

then walked the short 1km up to the parade.

We banged, drummed, and crashed our way up,

practising staying close together.

We were joined by more goodly crew,

and took more happy snaps,

only to become this entire mob of radical earth lovers.

Then we set off

Photo by Nicholas Hansen

with much ado. Busy bees and whistles and screams from the many worlds of life we were carrying, performing and representing.

Photo by Nicholas Hansen

Clanging and clapping, chanting and drumming,

Photo by Nicholas Hansen

dancing and jumping,

Photo by Nicholas Hansen

swinging and signing down the main drag of Daylesford, Vincent Street.

Photo by Karen Brothers

We were composting bankers,

Photo by Karen Brothers

bugs, peas and moths,

Photo by Karen Brothers

we were pathogens, disease and biological pest controls,

Photo by Karen Brothers

and flower queens,

Photo by Karen Brothers

worms and caterpillars and many more fertile things besides.

Photo by Karen Brothers

Thank you to all who joined us for this year's parade. We were awarded runner-up for Best Decorated Float and received $100 for our troubles. This money will go into our account at Wombat Hill Nursery to help keep us in the black.

See you all at the January working bee on Sat 13th. Oh, and if you're passing by the garden and you have a spare 15 mins please give it a soak. The hose is around the back of the library building.

We hope you have a great year in 2018!

Collective effort (November working bee)

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 21:18:00 +0000

Our November working bee at Albert Street garden began with a look at what the free food stand had on offer. Emily introduces a visitor to the concept.

There were purple Congo spuds, last season Harcourt apples and broadbeans for starters.

Jono and Liv got into the veg-digging spirit of the day.

Nikki and Kai's grandma pulled weeds together.

Alison signed an Australian Food Sovereignty petition.

Ash (from above), Kai and Tom (below) set a compost,

and later Dora joined Alison in one of the central beds.

Meg explained a thing or two to Kai,

while Woody cut back the fever few.

Tom watered the garden, and over the next couple of hot weeks watered in the new seedlings each day.

Meg pondered between jobs.

and Ash took a break with a book.

Kirsten stopped just long enough to snap this,

and we all said farewell for another month. Bye Zero!

Next working bee is on again this Saturday, Dec 9. It runs from 9am - 12 noon at the Albert St garden (beside the library). All are welcome for as little or as much time as you can spare. It would be great to see you, and please bring spare seedlings of all kinds. We especially need to get some tomatoes and basil in the ground.

Community Uprising (October working bee)

noreply@blogger.com (Meg) — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 22:16:00 +0000

Thank you to the sun, the birds and the bees for joining us at the October bee. And a special thank you to baby Rafael for joining us. We look forward to watching you grow, little fella. Congratulations to Jade + Robbie.

Kirsten overhauls a garden bed ready for spring planting.

Thank you spring!

Patrick selects seedlings to plant. Thanks to Sue + Melissa + Mara Ripani for kindly donating them.

Zero enjoys the soft grass and the warm air.

Tools of the trade.

Ian Clarke lovingly attends to an apple tree.

Ashar makes himself at home.

The Porter Petruccis get busy digging.

Meg sifts aged compost to add to garden beds for planting.

Woody and Ashar discuss which woods are the best for whittling spoons.

Thank you to everyone who came along to help. See you at the next bee on November 11th.

Great photos, Mara Ripani! Thank you gorgeous lady. <3

Many hands (September working bee)

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Sun, 10 Sep 2017 22:10:00 +0000

We finally had a great day for gardening after a week of poor weather and the previous (August) working bee being washed out.

Our numbers were doubled by a group of students from Clonard College, most of whom were first time gardeners. Patrick introduced the ethics of the garden and handed out jobs.

Tracey arrived early and got to weeding one of the leek beds.

Loique worked on the other one, hidden by the broadband.

Mara, as colourful as ever, helps in this front bed too with help from ...

Chris gets those happy-pill soil microbes into his blood stream.

Tom lends an ear to the garden nymphs.

Artemisia collects up the purple Congo potatoes.

Tom loads up the beds with mature compost.

Zero hunts mice.

Meg plants some European parsley.

Ian sprays white oil on the fruit trees.

These two from Clonard College learn to set a compost.

Kim wheels the nitrogen down to the composters.

Patrick pulls out the chickweed that has been feeding us all winter. Chick weed is full of Vitamin C.

Ange returns to the district to lend a hand.

Laura from Join Adventures and Michael, the outdoor ed teacher from Clonard College, lead a weeding team.

Linda and Mara take a moment for a moment.

And Diana, one of the librarians from next door, prepares a frame to hang pollinator hotels. Diana is running a workshop for children to make them, as part of the holiday program.

Next working bee is on the second Saturday of October, 9am -12 noon. See you there!

Pruning workshop with Ian Clarke (June working bee)

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 23:29:00 +0000

25 of us gathered at the library apples to attend a pruning workshop lead by Ian Clarke.

Ian has 55 years experience as an orchardist, and the last 20 years as a biodynamic fruit tree expert.

He showed us his method of bevelling larger pruning cuts, which reduces the surface area and speeds up the healing over process.

With each tree we were asked to examine the branches to remove. It was technical work and many of us felt overwhelmed by the matrix of possibilities.

On apples and pears the best fruit comes from the second and third year fruiting buds, which are the pregnant looking ones.

Ian mentioned it is common that people prune for aesthetics and not for fruit, so observe the second and third year buds and only remove those branches that are overcrowding.

Ian advised against using loppers because they bruise the branches, which encourages disease.

Disease such as woolly aphids can be treated in a number of ways, which we discovered in last year's workshop. Ian's notes for the treatment of disease can be found here (once there scroll down).

Thank you so much Ian Clarke for gifting your knowledge again this year. We look forward to the apples at the library producing another abundant crop. Artist as Family made a Library Fuji cider with them this year. What will you do with this free resource that is 100% community nourishment?

For insurance purposes, those who came included: Patrick Jones (facilitator), Ian Clarke (presenter), Jeremy Yau, Marcus and Kaiden Harmsen, Jonathan Swan, Olivia Gourley, Pam Armstrong, Alix Downing, Emily Wilden, Sharon Reading, Tina Whitaker, Geordie Collins, Robbie Woohey, Jade Dela Haye, Chris Dilworth, Odette Dilworth, Lauren Richardson, Fe Porter, Fab, Luna and Ant Petrucci, Dora Berenyi, Nick Ritar, Brenna Quinlan, Tracey MacDonald, Tracey Collinson.

April warm working bee (before the rain)

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Sat, 08 Apr 2017 22:14:00 +0000

Another warm April working bee took place on the 8th, the second Saturday of the month.

Patrick arrived early with Artist as Family's ute, tools and gifted straw.

Flo, who is living and working at Melliodora utilised his verbi-voco-visual skills to make up new signs

Luna reminded us of childhood a generation and more back.

Everyone had a role to play

Jeremy screened the compost to add to the leek and broadbean bed preparations.

Meg fine weeded with Woody and young new friend.

A mellow weekend cohort rocked up and gave gifts through the labour of their hands

Fe had the right idea, with smiles, hats and plenty of community garden experience.

Patrick jigged around the beds evenly distributing the finely screened compost.

Little garden nymphs also danced and explored the possibilities of the garden.

Lowique rests her back after a vigorous weeding session.

Just some of the bikes that transported workers to the bee.

Zero got among the soilers – Jono, Liv, Caroline and crew. His dog grasp of English is better than most think.

Woody cut points on stakes so they could be driven into the ground.

Alison harvested potatoes

Jeremy planted out the leeks

Patrick planted the broadbeans and staked them.

Flo set his signs above the compost piles

Nice job Flo!

Ah, the possibility of autonomous engagement. That's what we love about our community gardens. No membership, no gates, no rules, just the unpoliced ethic of take and return and let the gifts flow through the community.

It's so satisfying to grow communally and to learn, side by side.

Signage is always useful to let other gardeners know what's gone on before things become self evident.

Well, there we have it, another bloody beautiful bee.

After we divvied up and took home the bounty there were grapes, spuds and sun chokes left to offer up to the needs of others. All in a morning's work.

Chillout working bee

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 21:53:00 +0000

Fe, Luna and Fab stop by to say g'day.

Jono, Tim, Peri and Tom chop up the green waste for the compost lasagne.

Mara and Peri work with Ian Clarke on the street apples.

Tracy and Tim screen the aged compost to put on the beds.

Meg ('apparently a male stereotype is looking mean') and Woody.

Ian explains something to Greg, ahem Meg.

Patrick explains the art of compost laying to Tom (left) and Jono (right). Zero watches on, heard it all before.

Dallas tells us her family's history with apples.

Woody harvests onions and potatoes.

Said onions and potatoes.

Jono and Tom overhaul the compost bays.

Meg screens the compost.

Ian Clarke paints the woolly aphids with metho and carries out a light summer prune.

All ages, activities and abilities (February working bee)

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Sun, 12 Feb 2017 06:27:00 +0000

Each working bee Saturday (the second of every month), our two councillors Fiona Robson and Kate Redwood meet at the library for anyone to chat with them about particular issues concerning the shire. Hello Fiona!

Pic: Mara Ripani

Community gardener Ian Clarke gave Kate an update on the library apples and why he and others are carrying out extensive work to get them back into health.

Pic: Mara Ripani

Patrick, who planted the apples back in 1999, takes Ian's summer prunnings down to the compost area to be shredded and turned into productive soil.

Pic: Mara Ripani

Meg pulls out old brassicas and also takes them down to the composting area.

Pic: Mara Ripani

While we are technical creatures, we are also mammals of place and have the legs to prove it.

Pic: Mara Ripani

Bridie, Dale and Jeremy chop and drop the green waste into fine pieces to get ready to set another compost.

Pic: Mara Ripani

Little people are always welcome to participate in the working bees. Watering is a favourite job in summer.

Pic: Mara Ripani

Bridie lends a hands and smile at the compost arena.

Pic: Mara Ripani

Patrick pulls spent brassicas,

Pic: Mara Ripani

while Mara, with camera, captures the day's feel,

Pic: Mara Ripani

in many,

Pic: Mara Ripani

many,

Pic: Mara Ripani

many,

Pic: Mara Ripani

ways. 4 year-old Woody helped with the mowing,

Pic: Mara Ripani

and teenagers were even spotted being involved. Thanks Zeph!

Pic: Mara Ripani

Les and Fe helped save parsnip, coriander and rocket seeds,

Pic: Kirsten Bradley

while Fe was often doing multiple jobs at once.

Pic: Kirsten Bradley

Thanks to Kirsten and Mara for the great pictures and to everyone who showed up and once again transformed the Albert Street community garden. Thanks to Melissa, Sue and Karen for donations of straw and cane mulch. Next working bee coming up at DNC. Follow us on Facebook for more info or email Patrick (see right) to get the e-newsletters.

A slow to fruit, gentle summer (January working bee)

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 02:23:00 +0000

At another productive Albert Street working bee, Ian meets Mara while ridding the apple trees of wooly aphids.

Mara and Nick offload Mara's gift of horse manure.

Woody catches up with Alison, weeding the front perennial patch.

After pulling out the old broadbean shoots, Koen and Ruby address the errant grape vine.

Kirsten and Zero work in the seedling patch.

Sylvain thins the down-the-back bed while Nick attends to the materials for the compost.

Earlier in the week mysterious cockerels turned up in the garden (we think painted by Cat).

Woody heads towards the compost, an adventure unto itself.

Tim and Sylvain weed, thin and manure the down-the-back bed.

Zeph and Woody play rumble between spurts of helpful production.

Ruby, Ivan, Fiona and Rose clean up the east facing wall ready to replant.

Others who came to the working bee (but were not captured in a pic) include: Fe, Luna, Fab, Tom, Patrick and Ashar. We need a working bee photographer! Get in touch if that role interests you.

23 community participants contributed to this month's working bee. Thank you to all who help keep the gifts flowing in the community. See you next bee on Saturday February 11.

Gifts from the gods of the flowering earth

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 21:03:00 +0000

Fe Porter and Ant Petrucci kicked off the end of year festivities by donating a large white musical instrument to the Albert street garden for all comers to play. It is not a piano, in Ant's words, a piano can be tuned. It is a musical instrument, to be enjoyed as it slowly falls back to earth.

On New Year's Eve gardeners walked from all over the town to gather on Vincent Street.

We assembled as a small representative of the gardening community, to walk among other groups in the annual Daylesford NYE parade.

Around 2000 people turned up to witness and enjoy the historic parade, which included a brass band, superheroes, a tip scavengers' float, a pipe band, the CFA, SES and many others.

Cat came as a flower, David came as a gardener-forester in bright red PJs, and Su impersonated Willow the goat.

Zero came as, well, himself. Awesome dog!

Kirsten, Nick and Ashar came as the bee family — bee keeper, bee hive and bee.

It was a beautiful, hot night and we gardeners won the grand prize for best 'float'.

The $500 donated by the Bendigo Community Bank will go on our Wombat Hill Nursery account and keep us in the black in 2017.

Our next bee will be on Saturday February 11 at the Albert Street garden at 10am. Hope you can make it.

Wishing you all a lean, green and joyous year ahead.

Last bee for 2016

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 21:50:00 +0000

The last working bee of the year began with tree work. The apples outside the library are under an ongoing restoration regime led by this guy, Ian Clarke.

Ian is passing on his extensive fruit tree knowledges to anyone interested. Patrick has apprenticed himself to Ian. Today's work was painting wooly aphids with methylated spirits.

Tracey rejuvenated the worm farm,

while Nick and

Lindy turned and reset the compost bays. What a big job!

Lorne and Fiona hit the weeds.

Maya and Django tackled the strawberry patch.

Alison also dug some weeds.

Rosie and Evie bonded.

Tim and Fiona did some planting.

Rosie showed Patrick the aged manure she gifted the gardens, courtesy of her lovely goats.

It had a rich humus smell.

Woody transported the weeds to the compost area. Good job Woody wheelbarrow.

Dora staked the tomato seedlings that she planted last month.

Asher dug the ground and found much to wonder at.

Kirsten, Alison and Meg posed for their band pic — The Dirt Chicks.

Patrick and Woody rode home with the working bee tools and the happy soil bacteria surging through their bodies.

Thank you everyone for coming and singing love into our public food garden. Hope you all have a peaceful and productive month. We look forward to seeing you at the January Bee on Jan 14 2017.

In praise of the budding, flowering earth and the community who comes together

noreply@blogger.com (Permapoesis) — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 02:21:00 +0000

About 35 people attended our September working bee. The slightly warmer weather put the town in the mood for some sweet ol' communal gardening.

Planting seedlings and weeding is always light work with many glimmering, giving peeps.

Some pretty cool specimen gardeners turned out too. Nice getup Cam!

Hello Eric and Angela, we see you there.

Meg, Alison and Zero sent the tenacious, earth-giving weeds straight to the compost bays.

Ian attended to a diseased Fuji apple tree on the street.

Taking off all the dying wood and inserting bud grafts into the spring sap.

Eric turned the compost, while Ele repatriated the worm farm.

Marcus and Lindy weeded out one of the middle beds.

While veteran plantsmen Mike and Ian met and chatted.

Young Zeph put in a goodly 2 hours with his mate Otto (out of picture), stacking up all our old timbers, ready for use when we build the toolshed.

Working and conversing is what makes community gardening so enriching. Phone numbers, ferment recipes, planting methods are swapped, clothes, plants, food are handed around...

Angela and Lindy weeded the broadband patch.

Friends of Sarah's from Melbourne plant seedlings in the front patch.

What a great session! Thanks to all who came and collaborated. Thanks to Patrick who took the pics and facilitated the bee.

See you all next month.