Posts Tagged ‘gardening’
Keep your cool with trees and vines
Posted in Events, Uncategorized by kheffer on February 8th, 2012
| 21 February , 2012 | ||
| 6:30 pm | to | 8:30 pm |
Home Harvest Regional Feast: Seeking Growers
Posted in Seeking by Kate Archdeacon on January 27th, 2012
Source: Sustainable Gardening Australia (SGA)
We are looking for volunteers to grow and supply produce for the first Home Harvest Regional Feast. The feast will be held in Eltham (Victoria), so anyone who can get there is welcome to take part. Sign up as a grower and receive a free seasonal meal created using Grower’s produce at the feast. All registered growers will receive a small gift of vegetable seeds.
When: 22nd April, 2012
Where: Edendale, Gastons Road Eltham, Vic
Who: All growers are welcome, no matter what your level of experience or the size of your garden.
To register head to www.nillumbik.vic.gov.au or phone (03) 9433 3206.
Even if you are not from around the area, you can still click here to download your FREE Home Harvest Booklet of practical information on how to grow delicious, healthy produce in the temperate zone and connect with your local community.
Download a pdf with all the Feast info.
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Veggie Growers Competition
Posted in Events by EcoCentre on January 25th, 2012
| 11 February , 2012 | ||
| 11:00 am | to | 2:00 pm |
Port Phillip Urban Food Network – PPUFFN – is hosting its first ever veggie growers competition
We’re searching for the best offerings from edible gardens right across Port Phillip. As well be as well as local food growing entrants, we need spectators to help us decide the winners! There are 5 entry categories, including best-tasting tomato variety, monster veg & most unusual edible plant. Plus an honorary award for the most weird and wonderful looking contribution!
$450 prize pool / winners by popular choice / swap tips with other food gardeners.
So, get ready for some horticultural muscle flexing and join us on the day!
Full competition entry details
Saturday 11 February, 11am
St Kilda Youth Service Training Site, Cnr Pickles & Richardson St, Port Melbourne
(only 5 mins from Bay St shopping st)
Enquiries: paula – 0417 501 383 / gardeners@ecocentre.com
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Planning your 2012 Garden: What to consider
Posted in Models, Research by Kate Archdeacon on January 10th, 2012
Photo by abbybatchelder via flickr CC
Cityfood Growers have a checklist on their blog to help those of us who still don’t have the perfect veggie garden(!) reassess what we want and plan for a better year.
Author Peter Kearney says “January is a great time to get your thinking into planning your food garden for the coming year. In my experience, good planning makes a huge difference to your success. It helps to open your awareness to new knowledge, as you have more an idea of what’s coming, rather than stumbling along. [...] I know that is a lot of questions to work with, but they are all important when you do your plan. I work with these questions each year as I plan my own food gardens.”
The post includes a series of topic areas with several questions to answer in each area. Go through to the Cityfood Grower’s Organic Gardening blog for the full set of questions – not even half of them are included here:
Recap on last year – Be as objective as possible with yourself.
- What crops grew well and crops that did not grow so well?
- Were you being pragmatic enough with your time, i.e. did you hang onto to crops that didn’t produce much and took up a lot of your time and space?
Your garden space
- Can you now manage a bigger food garden, if so design the layout of your new garden and use the right principles for layout?
- Can you improve the design of your existing garden, for example more efficient use of space, better sun and drainage?
Soil fertility
- What is the state of your soil and is it appropriate for the crops you want to grow?
- Are you making compost and if so, are your methods producing enough and of good quality?
- Are you timing your compost making to fit your maximum planting time?
Planting plan
- For your vegetable/herb garden, have you developed a rotation plan for your beds, leave some space for perennials such as herbs?
- Have you chosen the predominant crops for each of your vegetable garden beds and worked out the month of planting using the ideal months?
- Have you chosen companion plants and space filler now that you have chosen your predominant crops for your beds?
Garden management
- Is your garden easy to manage in its current layout and design, if not think about how to make it easier to work with and at the same time generating higher quality soil?
- Are you overusing mulch and could you use more living crops for mulching such as green manure and edible companions?
Pests and diseases
- For your vegetable garden, are you using companion planting to reduce pests?
- Is soil quality your primary pest and disease reduction strategy, if not then make it so?
Your well being
- Have you developed an awareness of how you want to feel in your food garden, as your feelings have a big impact on how the garden grows?
- Will you create space in your busy day to sit in your garden to observe and contemplate?
cityfoodgrowers.com.au
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Local Harvest Australia: Connecting and supporting local consumers & producers
Posted in Movements, Seeking by Kate Archdeacon on December 14th, 2011
Local Harvest is a new national initiative aiming to help people find local sources of food and grow their own.
A directory of sustainable food in Australia
A national directory for finding food co-ops, swap meets, community gardens, farmers markets, box systems, organic retailers and more by simply entering your postcode.
Helping you to produce your own
DIY alternatives for food production and meeting essential needs, including resources for growing and making your own.
Local Harvest Challenge
Take up the Local Harvest Challenge, where for one week you attempt to reduce the ‘degrees of separation’ from your food. Based on the Household Action Challenge run in previous years.
There is a fantastic similar resource existing for the USA found at www.localharvest.org on which this project has been based.
Local Harvest will launch in February 2012, and is currently has a funding call-out on Pozible. Check out the website to find out more.
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Growing Food in Pots: SGA article
Posted in Models, Research by Kate Archdeacon on November 11th, 2011
Source: cuttings, the Sustainable Gardening Australia(SGA) newsletter
Photo by David_Turner via flickr CC
From “Produce in Pots” by Helen Tuton:
Plants in pots… it’s hardly a new or revolutionary concept… I mean, we are all well acquainted with the potted Maidenhair fern in the bathroom, a dusty ‘Parlour Palm’ struggling for life in the corner of the office, or the ubiquitous ‘Peace Lily’ given as a gift when we can’t think of anything better. But what about productive plants in pots? Imagine a ‘movable feast’ in your inner city courtyard, providing a fair whack of the food you love to eat? A bounty of beautiful herbs out by the BBQ, or tonnes of tumbling tomatoes at your townhouse? Just about anyone has room for a few pots at their place, and we reckon you will be amazed by just how much produce you can grow in just about any space!
Gone to Pot – Getting Started
Planting a productive potted plot is no different to getting going in a garden – it’s all about planning, position, potting mix, patience and productivity. [...]
Read the full article by Helen Tuton for the SGA.
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Plant Sale to Support the Stewart Lodge Wellbeing Garden
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on October 14th, 2011
| 22 October , 2011 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 1:00 pm |
Source: Moreland Food Gardens Network
Stewart Lodge is a supportive residential service for over 80 residents who might otherwise not have a place to call home. The wellbeing garden engages residents and local volunteers in tending a kitchen garden which provides fresh produce for meals and incorporates garden therapy activities for residents to increase physical activity and mental wellbeing. All proceeds from the sale will go back into growing and maintaining the garden.
10 am – 1pm, Saturday 22 October
83-85 Stewart Street, Brunswick
If you would like to find out more about the garden, make a donation or become a volunteer please email Julie West; JulieW@MCHS.org.au
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Permaculture Playgroups and Mud Monsters: Green Lunchbox Series
Posted in Events by samgreen on October 3rd, 2011
| 12 October , 2011 | ||
| 12:30 pm | to | 1:30 pm |
Photo by donkeycart via flickr CC
It’s spring time and we’re eager to spend time in the garden with our families! Permaculture and play come together to bring both children and their families to the garden. While adults get their hands dirty and share gardening and permaculture skills and ideas, children learn about how things grow, where food comes from and healthy food choices.
Come along and listen to our presenters showcase sustainability, education and play activities for children and their families. This session is likely to be of interest to teachers, educators, community workers and families.
Date: Wednesday 12 October 2011, 12.30-1.30pm
Location: Reception Room, Maribyrnong Council Offices, cnr Hyde & Napier Sts Footscray
Presented by: Braybrook Sprouts, Mud Monsters & Permaculture Out West
To register for the session visit ww.maribyrnong.vic.gov.au/lunchbox or for more information call council’s Sustainability Officer on 9688 0357
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Footprint Flicks now available on DVD
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on September 27th, 2011
Source: Sustainable Gardening Australia(SGA)
Whether you’re a first time gardener or a seasoned green thumb, these bite-sized, fast-paced, funny little flicks will get you growing in no time. For the low-down on everything from worm farming and composting to saving water, reducing your food miles and growing incredible edibles, you’ll find it all in these compact episodes of gardening wisdom. Gardening videos like you’ve never seen before. The Footprint Flicks 2 DVD set is available now in our webshop now. 17 short films for just $24.95. Click here to find out more or grab yourself a copy!
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Don’t know what the Footprint Flicks are? There are a couple up on the SGA website for you to preview – Lord of the Bins, DIY Compost, Part 1 & 2. Or read about their launch earlier this year.
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Growing Your Own Food: Classes at BAAG
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on September 9th, 2011
| 15 September , 2011 | ||
| 7:00 pm | to | 9:00 pm |
Bulleen Art & Garden (BAAG) has a whole series of gardening-related classes coming up over the next few months, including Vegies for Absolute Beginners, Soil Health and Management – the Good Dirt, Produce in Pots, and Beekeeping for Beginners. The nursery subsidises the classes to keep them affordable. The next class, on September 15, is Growing Tomatoes – the Apples of Love:
- Want to know how to grow loads of juicy, tasty tomatoes? Get the low-down on soil needs, varieties to try, growing from seed or seedling, fertilising and then some tips on what to do with all the buckets of yummy “love apples” you’re bound to be picking.
- Suitable for gardeners with a little experience in vegie gardening.
- Class cost is $30
Check out their website for the full list and to make bookings.
Bulleen Art & Garden
6 Manningham Road West,
Bulleen
(03) 8850 3030
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