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December 2014 Update – upcoming AGM

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Dear fellow gardeners,

Our AGM is scheduled for Tuesday 9th December at 6pm. It will be held at the gardens and we will be having our Christmas party after the meeting (a good incentive for a quick meeting). Even though an AGM might seem boring we really do encourage all members to attend as we need your input for next year’s plans and the Committee would like all members to know what has been happening and what is being planned. If any members wish to nominate for positions on the committee for the coming year nomination forms are available at the garden. We can’t leave them out as they get blown about in the wind so just come down on a working bee day to grab one. We also have a pretty good time at our Christmas get togethers. For the party we thought it’s too hot for a B.B.Q. so “bring a plate” is the order of the day as well as byo drinks and chair. We are hoping that Shirley will bring one of her amazing pavlovas because it is the best we have ever tasted, hint, hint Kev. Family members are very welcome and the more kids the better. Hope to see you there!!

Another season has passed by already, here we are with Summer starting next week. Spring has been a very busy and productive season at the garden and as always we have learned lots.

We have had some new members join recently so welcome and happy gardening.  It is always exciting to welcome new gardeners and it’s lovely to see the enthusiasm shown by our existing members when it comes to showing new members around and sharing our lovely space.

Speaking of sharing, you probably already know by now that we have received funding to build the toilet. We received a state government grant of more than 14 thousand dollars and the Premier’s visit to deliver the good news has lifted our profile in the local area. Thanks largely to Kev Strong and our local member Don Page we can add this grant to existing savings and start on the toilet in the New Year. Woo Hoo. This means that not only can we gardeners stay longer on working bee days but we can also invite more groups from the community to visit and share our garden. We are aiming to encourage childcare centres and aged care groups as well as disability services to visit our garden for pleasure, knowledge sharing, exercise, social contact with the community and just plain fun. We are all looking forward to this new exciting development for our garden. It’s funny how exciting a toilet can be, the simple things in life can bring the most pleasure.

Now to the serious business of compost. The pile of plant material to be composted seems to be never ending and the 1 or 2 people who work on the compost are a little overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that accumulates there. We have the pile where it is as compost needs layering and proper building for it to work so we want you to leave your greens there but leaving whole plants, roots, stems and all, makes our job heaps harder as we have to chop it all up before it goes in the compost. If you take out plants and leaves from your own garden we would really, really appreciate it if you could take the time to chop it up a bit before you leave it in the pile. There are always tools on the table in front of the whiteboard.

We are having a bumper season with the cherry tomato plants all over the garden. Nothing seems to eat them and they are plentiful. Bed E in particular has lots of varieties so help yourself to some whenever you are there. There is also plenty of spinach, rainbow chard and silver beet. We had a good crop of potatoes this last couple of weeks, though we have again learned something this season, we need to plant lots more beds with potatoes as they are always popular with everyone and none go to waste. At the moment there are also lots of zuchinni in various beds, you just have to look under the leaves. The ones in bed F are white zucchini and they are really nice and sweet. Over near the TAFE fence our pumpkin, watermelon and squash mounds are coming along very well.  Again we learned from last season and have put in lots more plants as our pumpkins were very well received last year.

Hope to see you at the AGM.

Happy Gardening from the BCG Committee.

August 2014 update

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Can you believe that Spring is only three weeks away!

We have been very busy preparing our community beds for the new planting season. We bought two metres of improved soil to top up the beds and we are mixing it half-half with macca mulch to make to go further. We also have lots of seeds germinating in the shade house so we will be ready to plant out in three weeks. Any members that have questions about their own garden are welcome to use our large library if gardening books or to come down on a working bee day and ask for info. Michelle is particularly knowledgeable when it comes to soil and she is more than happy to help. If there was enough interest we could organize a workshop at the garden to help members prepare for Spring.

On only his third visit to the garden, Bryan, one of our new members, bought us an amazing bamboo geodesic dome that he had made and we are going to use it as an extra chook run for the two girls that live in the small pen. Thanks Bryan, the girls will be very happy with the extra room.

Dome_Aug14

It has been a strange winter season and some crops have been affected. The brassicas didn’t do well at all, most of them are still growing leaves with no sign of flowering. Although, other member’s private plots did ok with broccoli so maybe we need to look at the soil we had ours in.  We learn something more about our garden and gardening every season, which is what we are about really.

Kevin has finished our permaculture mandala garden down the back and it is fabulous. Have a look next time you are down there. The bananas in the circle are sprouting new leaves and the mandala pattern beds are flourishing. We would like to develop the area down the back there and we were hoping to get input from members as to what to do with the space. It would be nice to try something different in this area, like more permaculture beds.

Mandala_Garden_Aug14

At the moment we have lots of bok choy and lettuce. Thanks to members Graham and Sumarmi for donating so many seedlings this winter. There are also plenty of purple beans ready to pick. We staggered the planting of the potatoes so we are still digging them up. There is usually a bucket or two of produce left out on the table for members who don’t get down to the working bee days so don’t forget to check now and then. We have lots of kale and mustard greens at the moment and still lots of strawberries, although you might have to fight off the birds to get to them.

Harvesting the fruits of our labour can be tricky at times, with so many members. On the working bee days we try not to harvest too much as we can’t let all members know what’s there and sometimes it will go to waste. We try to take only enough for our needs and leave lots in the garden (the best way to store it).  The idea is for members who can’t get to the working bee days to come down when they can and do what they can to contribute to the garden.  The weed situation is always in need of attention so even pulling a few weeds from the beds or the paths contributes a lot.  Watering a bed or two when you are doing your own private plot helps us all. So don’t forget to check the jobs list on the board to see if there is anything that needs doing and have a look at what we have growing and take what you need.

This month we would like to mention our members who are our mowing crew. They don’t often dig or cart dirt or plant in the garden but they work so so hard on keeping our edges and grassed areas looking as good as they do. These same members also run our fundraising B.B.Qs at Bunnings. Good on you chaps we really appreciate your contribution. Hope to see you out and about soon Keith Spearing. Also a big thank you to Troy for bringing us coffee grounds from work, we use it on the compost, the worms and sometimes around the tomatoes.

We have applied for another grant to add to the toilet project.  If we get this grant we will be very close to getting our toilet.   Ballina Shire Council recently informed us that they will grant our request to supply the sewerage connection for our toilet which will save us a huge amount and get us closer to our goal.  A big thank you to Council for their support!

At our recent committee meeting we decided we would like to have a Spring social afternoon. Just a BBQ, a chat and a chance to get to know each other better. This could be a great opportunity to get members input into the garden and how we are going as well as new ideas for the future. We thought a Sunday afternoon after the working bee would be good. A preliminary date of October 12 was suggested. September would have been nice but lots of children’s sport finals are on as well as school holidays and we would like to have as many members and their families present as possible. More details to follow.

Happy gardening.