It’s never too late though. If you missed doing it, just fill it in now.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3QLT5YT

We’re in the process of doing up a draft design and will send it around to interested people to get feedback.

Contact us if you want to be on the community garden working group.

I was thinking we do a grand plan and work on it over a long period of time, bit by bit?

We could have an outdoor cafe and stage area. Fairy lights (of course). Some raised beds, pergola….

Thing is, Duane needs photos of what we like before he can start. So, can everyone please start posting photos so we can get started on the design stage soon? We don’t have our block yet, but it won’t be far off.

So, if your a gardener or not, how do you want to use the space? Kids play equipment? A little kids maze? Aquaponics? Let’s brainstorm a bit!

Some FB Ideas

Katharine Jones: A mud kitchen for the kids! Pics later when I can get on Pinterest

April Hubert Wright: aquaponics need someone there to check and feed fish twice a day so may not be the best, plus it’s quite expensive to put together. People can just come check out my system currently being installed.

April Hubert Wright: Would love a kiddie section – including a smelly (in a good way) plant section, sand / mud pit, a protected seedling area … will post some pictures too

Yvette Giannake: You might want to consider including a community wood-fired pizza/bread oven http://www.alburycity.nsw.gov.au/…/rive…/wood-fired-oven

Jo Cuskelly: That’s so fantastic what a good guy Duane is!!!! Def fairy lights

At the meeting on Wednesday night, we needed commitment from you guys to say, yes – I’ll work in the garden, yes – I’ll help choose a plot and yes – I’ll help cost what we need for our grant application.

And people did say YES! So this means, we can go ahead and lease our land and start this crazy adventure!

So, what are the land options you ask?

1. Guide Park – Wallace St, behind the Guide Hut next to the Condamine

2. Willi St – Next to the Warwick Artist Group and opposite Rainbow FM

3. Victoria Park – opposite the hospital (up in the corner of Locke & William Streets)

We have a comparison sheet, listing pros and cons of each site. Let me know if you want a copy. I’ll forward you the pdf.

A) SO we need a team to help select the plot which included talking to businesses and people near each park to inform them of our plans, ask how we can work in with them and to request letters of support. We have to submit a proposal to SDRC demonstrating that we have community support for us leasing the particular park, so letters of support and proof of community consultation will be critical. As will proving that we won’t let it go all feral – for this we need a list of potential volunteers.

B) Hence, we need a list of people who will be willing to help with the garden. Maybe with the design, building of structures, donating money or tools, planting, watering, putting on workshops, attending workshops, selling worm farms etc. If you want to get involved, message me!

C) Lastly, we need a list of tools and other things we’ll need to get the garden off the ground. Jackie Robertson has offered to write up a grant application for the Jupiters Casino Community Benefit Fund, but she needs a costed list.

The good news is that quite a number of people but their names down for all of these, but we really need more. More young people who are interested in learning, more retirees who have years of experience, more families who want to help create a beautiful, family friendly environment, more of everybody!!!

We also had The Enchanted Garden offer to donate some plants, which is fantabulous! Maybe some people can buy some heritage seeds from at our next meeting and donate them too?

* If you want to put your name down for anything to do with the garden, just message me or come to our catch up meeting at 2pm on Tuesday at The Cherry Tree. 

PS Photo is of the Northey Street Cafe. Wouldn’t that be so cool!?!?!

The association said that they would be happy to share their facilities with us (toilets, kitchen area and storage space) if we secured the land. How super nice!!

They also gave us the name of the contact who they liaise with, which will be a big help. We were also told it’s not a quick process – it took 3 years to organise the lease of their land. Hopefully ours will be a little quicker, but all the more reason to put on some workshops or organise some talks. I met a few community garden organisers at Northey Street who don’t have gardens (yet), but they found lots of other ways to achieve some of their goals.

Funding

As well as the usual options (gaming grants etc) there were ideas put forward of various different funds/grants that are available.

• NRMA
• SITA (the garbage mob)
• Bunnings BBQs (some of the groups made in excess of $1500 in one day!)
• NAB grants

Applying for Grants

Whilst chatting about grants, there was a girl who worked in grant approvals who had some good tips.

• Use ABS statistics to back up your grant application ie why does the community NEED this garden (to combat obesity, foster community, involve youth, etc)
• Build good relationships with local Govt, local members, and local groups. Having community support is important.
• Keep grants simple and to the point. They will not read long, overly wordy applications.
• Read and fulfil the guidelines to the letter.

Garden Design

We spoke about garden design and site selection. I’m sure you have some ideas about this after seeing Northey St, however these are a few points that I noted.

• we need to think of efficient water collection and use.
• an emphasis should be made in the beginning on building good soil depth and structure, as that is the basic building block.
• the overall site design needs to be harmonic, it should work within the context of the space, and designed for ease of use. This may evolve over time.
• Infrastructure is key. It will be the first and most important part of designing and constructing the garden. It will also take capital (or sponsorship)
• windbreaks and shade help to create different climate zones in the garden and provide comfortable areas for people to congregate.

A few websites to peruse.

• http://www.greenharvest.com.au
• http://communitygarden.org.au
• https://www.ourcommunity.com.au
• http://www.cultivatingcommunity.org.au

Here are some photos in the meantime. It was an absolutely brilliant and informative day. I hope we can have an excursion down there so we can all do a course.

I’ll report what I jotted down in my notepad in no particular order.

* Plots are rented for $50/yr (with no communal areas)
* “Bush Tucker” section
* Area for people in wheelchairs
* Awesome chook pen
* Mostly Africans and Somalians use the garden, growing vegies they can’t buy in shops.
* Water sourced from a nearly dam & one tank for drinking
* Participants provide their own wire fencing etc
* Rocky the Cockatoo & some guinea pigs live there too
* Workshops aren’t run due to lack of interest
* Bit of a problem with security
* 80+ 50m2 plots and they have a waiting list

So, very different to the Stanthorpe Community Garden in operation and use! But also a very interesting day. I think my favourite parts were all the banana trees and the Japanese garden. I’ve since been told by Julia that we can grow bananas in Warwick, so YIPPEE