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Merri-bek Community Gardening

Author : Jessica Peeler

WBCG – Sofia’s Farewell

Posted in Events, West Brunswick Community Garden By Jessica PeelerPosted on
On Sunday 28th November we had a great Garden and Gather, with participants: Richard, Libby and family, Judith, Julia C, Melanie, Therese, Carmen, Val, Sofia, Rob, Nat, Kim McC, Laurence (‘Loz’), Marie-Paul, Jess and Christine K. Christine and Fred, and Cigdem and kids popped in too.
 
We did a lot of work, including moving the compost, harvesting the spuds, clearing beds W16&17, clearing beds N1A & 1B and laying black plastic, clearing bed N4, planting cucumbers in Bed 3N watering the northern end of the Food Forest (south of the path) and planting some seedlings.
 
We had a delicious lunch with so much variety and heaps of desserts too (wow we have some amazing bakers!).
 
And, most important of all, we said farewell and thank you to our dear colleague, Sofia, who has left us to go back home to Chile. Sofia has been a passionate and dedicated gardener, member of the Organising Committee, and leader of the communal garden beds. We gave her a farewell present of a Crumpler bag and a Merri Creek bird calendar. Thanks to all those who contributed.
Many laughs, tears and hugs were shared. We miss you already Sofia – safe travels home, besos.
 

WBCG wine sale

Posted in Uncategorised By Jessica PeelerPosted on
Are you worried about what to get friends and family for the festive season? Or just running out of nice wine? Exciting news! The WBCG wine fundraising sale is now on! Pick up will be from 10 Dec in Brunswick West. Go to https://merribekcg.tidyhq.com/…/products to place your order and pay for it by 10 December to collect your wines by Christmas.
All proceeds of the wine sales will go towards the operation of the Garden & Food Forest.

Compost donation for Pentridge Community Garden

Posted in Uncategorised By Jessica PeelerPosted on
Thank you to Veolia Australia & New Zealand and Moreland City Council for donating 10m3 of Back To Earth compost to Pentridge Community Garden!
This compost is provided through the Back To Earth Initiative, which turns Moreland’s household food and green waste into compost. See more info here: https://backtoearth.vic.gov.au/.
The compost will be put to good use helping crops thrive this Summer ☀️

The gardens are open again!

Posted in Uncategorised By Jessica PeelerPosted on

Victoria is currently under strong COVID lockdown restrictions. We thank gardeners for their patience as we move to accommodate directions from different departments and areas.

As always we are working with the direction from the DHHS website, and with advice from Moreland Council.

Visiting the garden together under the Stay Safe Directions

Attending the gardens is for the purpose of growing and harvesting fresh food only.

We must maintain a register of members to the gardens for EVERY SINGLE PERSON that enters the garden to ensure we don’t exceed numbers allowed. We are still only opening these bookings up to members of MCG/our gardens.

There is a maximum limit of 2 people from 1 household allowed to be in the gardens at one time. This means that particularly on busy weekends, please stay within your allotted time and be considerate of others.

Additionally, for singles, they may attend the garden under the singles bubble rule where they may nominate 1 person outside their household to visit the garden with.

We recommend, as there is limited clarity between departments, that you carry a copy of the MCC email with you when attending. If you don’t have a printer, Richard and Kat have kindly agreed to print copies and leave in the shed.

We are using a simple spreadsheet to book times at the gardens. Links to the booking sheets have been emailed to members. ALSO you must check in at the garden using the QR code.

You should not visit the garden if you are sick.

You can only visit the garden if:

  • You are a member
  • You have booked a timeslot
  • You are not unwell, isolating or waiting test results
  • It is within your 5km zone
  • You check-in using the QR code

At all times while in the garden you must:

  • Wear a mask
  • Adhere to hygiene guidance provided under Staying Safe, 
  • Use sanitiser when entering/exiting the garden, clean and disinfect high touch surfaces regularly, including hoses etc. 
  • Bring your own water bottle / cup for drinking and take them home again.
  • Sheds will be allowed to be opened, there is only 1 person allowed in the shed at a time and everything used must be sanitised after use. Sanitiser/wipes are available at the gardens.

Other advice:

  • Compost systems – please follow your garden’s FB group directions (see details below)
  • New Members – we are taking new members – induction should include sharing this email and making sure they understand the booking system.
  • No visitors to the gardens
  • Wash all produce from the garden
  • Do not share food or a cuppa at the garden 

Facebook groups:

After the lockdown is over – gardens will return to COVID normal open settings. Please ensure you use the QR code to check in and do not exceed gathering number limits.

Happy Gardening,

Moreland Community Gardening

Temporary closure of gardens due to COVID-19 restrictions

Posted in Uncategorised By Jessica PeelerPosted on

Unfortunately, today we have some not so good news to share. Owing to the recent changes to the DHHS directives found here and here from the 22/8 and 21/8 respectively, we sought direct clarification from DHHS as to their position on the opening of community gardening spaces for the purpose of gardening and gathering food.

The directive from the department was that this was NOT a permitted activity, and we therefore are moving to close the gardens immediately.

We recognise this will be a blow for all of you – the gardens, the joy of growing and sharing space, even when we can’t do so together is a connection that has been important for all of us.

Members of the garden crew will be putting up signs and changing the lock codes so that we don’t miss anyone in this information.

We urge you to reach out to your community in other ways, both our gardens have active facebook member groups:
Pentridge Community Garden Members
West Brunswick Community Garden And Food Forest Members 

We’ll also be looking at scheduling some catch up events over zoom in this period. So, keep an eye on your inbox for news of these.

We hope to see you all at the garden soon,

Moreland Community Gardening, Pentridge Community Garden and West Brunswick Community Garden

Farewell to our wonderful friend John Coutanche

Posted in Dunstan Reserve Food Forest, Events, West Brunswick Community Garden By Jessica PeelerPosted on
Many of you would have worked in the garden at West Brunswick or in the Food Forest alongside John Coutanche over the last few years. John was a massive contributor to the garden, and very much a quiet achiever. John was a very active member of the Organising Committee, a tireless worker in the communal garden, a keen and knowledgable seed saver, a Food Forest champion, wonderful company and a great friend.
Last Thursday, John lost his battle with cancer and passed away. He had battled sarcoma for a number of years and had been having treatment until earlier this year. The Organising Committee has organised a memorial (via zoom) this Sunday at 3pm. Please come along to share your memories of John or even if you didn’t know him well come and hear what a wonderful person he was and the amazing things he did for the garden and Food Forest. There are plans to set up a permanent memorial in the garden for him too.

Click here to join the Zoom meeting, or use the details below.

Meeting ID: 874 2626 4251

Passcode: Sn83bf

Big thanks to Jo as she leaves the PCG Organising Committee

Posted in Pentridge Community Garden By Jessica PeelerPosted on
Friends, join us in saying thank you to the original Marathon Woman, Jo Stavers. Jo is leaving our organising committee after having served since 2017, including two stints as Convenor.
If you’ve been to one of our fundraisers over the years, it was probably organised by Jo. She’s the woman who just keeps going and going and going. (Sometimes literally rocking up to volunteer after having just run a marathon.)
Jo is an incredible communicator who is able to drive us to an outcome, no matter how stuck we are. She’s confident and clever yet somehow completely down to earth. She is also generous with her time and her space – we’ve had countless Committee meetings sitting around Jo’s dining room table.
If there’s one image that exemplifies Jo’s attitude, it’s watching her happily tuck into a piece of bread with tomato sauce after a long day at the Bunnings Sausage Sizzle. (As a vegetarian she flips the snags but can’t eat them!)
We are very sad to lose Jo from our Organising Committee, but we are glad that she will still be part of our garden as a general member.
Hopefully we can meet again soon to say cheers over a beer. For now – thank you Jo. We’re raising a virtual pint in your honour.

Time to propagate seedlings for Spring!

Posted in Lockdown, Propagation By Jessica PeelerPosted on

It’s lockdown no. 6 for Victoria. We would love to be gathering in the garden, but sadly that is not possible right now. Instead, why not propagate some plants at home?

To help you get started, check out our propagation guide here. Gardenate is a great resource for finding out what can be grown in your area at the moment.

We would love to see what you grow! Tag us on Facebook or Instagram.

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