Thursday, December 25, 2008

Happy Christmas from Cultivating Community.

Merry Christmas from all the staff at Cultivating Community.

This year’s gift is from the Lennox St Community Garden in Richmond and features a selection of the gardener’s favourite recipes in English, Chinese and Vietnamese. It was produced as part of the ABC Open Garden Scheme and was accompanied by a DVD, Chapters of which can be viewed on by visiting our channel on You Tube http://au.youtube.com/user/CultivatingCommunity

If you are in Melbourne over the Festive period and have a tree that’s heaving with fruit please come along to Yarra Neighbourhood Orchard swap meet on Saturday the 3rd January from 10am to 1pm on the bike path opposite the Fitzroy pool. We are expecting a massive variety of produce and what could be better than swapping locally produced goodies!

Next year will see our weekly community fruit and vegetable market refocus on to local and seasonal produce. The markets take place every Thursday from the second week of January and have the cheapest produce this side of the Vic Market.

10:30-11:30 Harmsworth St Hall Collingwood

1:30-2:30 Base of 125 Napier St Fitzroy

Lastly our community garden in Napier St Fitzroy is taking part in the ABC Open Garden Scheme the weekend of 21/22 February. There will be tours, cooking demos, the launch of a DVD showing the history of the estate and interviews with gardeners and much much more. Opening times are 10am to 4pm – hope to see you there.

I wish you all a fantastic Christmas and I hope that all your harvests are bountiful in 2009!

Thanks
Ben Neil
Chief Executive Officer
Cultivating Community
P.O. Box 8 Abbotsford
Victoria 3067
Office: 03 9415 6580

Fax: 03 9415 6507
Mobile: 0404 255 317

www.cultivatingcommunity.org.au


Monday, December 15, 2008

Organic Gardener 2009


We have a new subscription for 2009. In the Library Container in the shed. Keep reading. Just write your name in the library book when you borrow one of the many goodies in there and then when you return it. It is a fabulous resource..Loads of ideas..

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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Visit from Barham Food Garden




Delicious oranges.



On Saturday we had a group from the Barham Community Food Garden visit our garden as part of a community garden tour that they did by bus. They were a great group of people who brought along a lovely selection of goodies for afternoon tea and a large box of locally grown oranges for us to share. The box is in the shed at the garden so help yourselves.

Barham is a town near the Vic/NSW border on the way to Swan Hill, they are only in the planning stages of their garden and were interested in how our garden worked. They also visited Veg Out, Atherton High Rise, and the Happy New Life garden in Richmond. They had seen the photos on our blog of that garden which inspired them to visit there. Hopefully we will keep in contact with them.

Mardie who organised the trip had also bought one of our t-shirts from Red Bubble. She is keen to have a chat with Rebecca and get her tips on setting up a blog.


Monday, December 1, 2008

Red Bubble orders for Christmas

Red Bubble has just listed order deadlines for anyone wanting to order stuff for Christmas, here they are:
Calendars, Cards, Stretched Canvas, Posters and all Prints (Framed, Laminated, Mounted, Matted and Laminated) Dec. 14
T-shirts: Dec. 7
So get ordering!

We had a lovely Christmas party on Sunday, with a fabulous array of food- (Who made that berry pastry thing? It was amazing!!) and a great turn out, so thank-you all for turning up with plates in hand.
I forgot to take my camera but Marijka may have a few snaps to share.

And here they are... Some beauties on the day of the feasting..


Onion flower thriving in Edain's and Justin's patch..


Hollyhock down by the pond. An infiltrator..

Water iris down by the pond. Best season yet.


Dianella down by the pond. A fabulous show this year..


(And the berry pastry thingy was another of Jane's gourmet baking).