Friday, December 23, 2011

Seasons Eatings

Hello Community Gardeners,

There will be no working bees or meetings until the new year. The first meeting will be Wednesday 4th Jan and the first working bee will be Saturday 7th Jan.

All Kiama Community Gardeners are encouraged to harvest from the garden over the break.The garden is bursting with veggies at the moment so please don't let them go to waste.


2011 has been a spectacular year for the Kiama Community Garden. Let's see what we can make of 2012.


Gardeners Eddie, Deb and Steve enjoying the silly season
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Jobs for Saturday 17th December


"Tis the season ... to get busy in the garden 

1)      Clean out plants from the hot house

2)      Repair the timber chairs

3)      Sand the pergola

4)      Harvest

5)      Share a cuppa



Please join us from 8:30am.



Access the gardens from the Kiama Leisure Centre car park along the ovals fence line.

Please wear sturdy shoes and a hat.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Native Food Forest

 The beginning of our Native Food Forest

Please join the Kiama Community Garden members and others this Saturday 10th December from 8:30am as we plant out the Hillside outside the KCG. The Native Food Forest will provide a great example of edible native plants that grow well in the Illawarra.


Work has been going on for the last few months to prepare and weed the hillside and we are now ready to get planting.


Please come along and help plant the food forest, bring a friend.
Also pick up your free Grow Local guides on the day.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

A Delicious Celebration of Spring, Now for a Produce Packed Summer!.






Last Sunday 27 November, a selection of the garden's spring produce was transformed into a delicious brunch for 40 people. The Spring into the Garden brunch was made possible with the combined effort of Slow Food Saddleback, Kiama Council and the Kiama Community garden. The atmosphere and the dining was wonderful, So much so, that people have already expressed their interest in coming back for more of the same!

This weekend our planned work will help us maintain, organise and generate a beautiful and bountiful summer place for us all. Hope you can join us from 0830am.

Jobs for Saturday 3 December include:
  • Begin preparing pergola uprights for oiling.
  • Relocate some of the herbs from raised garden bed to half wine barrel.
  • Clear an easily accessible path through to the back of the shipping container.
  • Mulch top bank with lucerne.
  • Thin out unsuitable hybrid zucchinis.
  • Plant pure strain Zucchini from Italian Gardener.
  • Harvest and share Beans, Zucchini, Beetroot and Chard.
  • Turn Hot Compost.
  • Check Citrus for pests.

  • Eat cake – celebrate – and enjoy each other’s company!
Please Park at the Leisure Centre and enter the garden via the soccer fields.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Grow Local - join us Saturday 26th November

On Wednesday this week two new GROW LOCAL guides for the Illawarra were launched at a wonderful event in Wollongong. The guides are the Illawarra Edible Garden Guide and the Illawarra Native Garden Guide. Pick up your free copies at the garden from 8:30 Saturday.

While you at the garden why not join in the jobs for this weekend:


·       - Re organise the storage of our items in the shipping container

·       - Begin preparation of vegetables for Sunday

·       - Wash kitchen floor, and clean and tidy both the kitchen and the meeting room

·       - Check citrus trees for pests / beetles

·       - Begin preparation of pergola for oiling

·       - Turn the hot compost

·       - Enjoy morning tea together
 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Job list for Saturday 19th November

With the Slow Food Brunch just around the corner we will be sprucing up the garden this Saturday.

  - We need to clean the kitchen ready for the
    Slow Food Brunch 
  - Move the timber off cuts
  - Plant out the pots we didn't do last week
  - Harvest 
  - Mulch behind the seating arc
  - Check the citrus trees for pest beetles
  - Complete the grey water tank platform
  - Enjoy a cuppa in the garden

Come along from 8:30 and get involved...

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Calling all spare hands. Lots to do. Lots to harvest.



Saturday 12 November





- Slash Bana Grass.

- Stake Tomatoes.

- Dig Potatoes.

- Cut pea stalks and remove all upper foliage.

- Plant new Ornamental ground cover and Perilla herb plants.

- Begin work on support for grey water tank.

- Harvest Chard, Broad Beans, Artichokes.

- Enjoy each others company over a cuppa.


Last weekend we had a great time on our bus tour in Sydney. We visited 5 wonderful Community Gardens, Woolloomooloo, Paddington, James St Reserve Redfern, Charlie's Garden and Randwick.

Paddington Community Garden

Each garden was a delight and an education. We look forward to welcoming Sydney gardeners to our garden in the future.
Woolloomooloo Community Garden

Thursday, November 3, 2011

And the wheels of the bus go round and round ...

Instead of working in our garden this Saturday 5 November, we will be jumping on a mini-bus and heading north to visit many others. So, sorry, no working bee this week. But we will be back again next Saturday 12/11, inspired no doubt, after visits to:

Woolloomooloo Garden
Paddington Garden
James Street Reserve Garden, Redfern
Charlie’s Garden – Charles Kernan Reserve, Darlington and Randwick Garden!

We have much to be excited about ... including the bounty in the garden. The snap to the left is of the harvest gathered for sharing amongst the workers last Saturday 29 October.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Getting your hands dirty ... jobs this Saturday 29 October

Come along on Saturday 29 October and help with:

Putting shade cloth over the hothouse
Building a new hot compost
Adding our new worms to the worm farms
Bagging our compost
Cleaning out the equipment and supplies shed
Staking tomatoes
Planting pumpkins
HARVESTING HARVESTING HARVESTING!!!

Come along early and work up an appetite in time to share morning tea

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

No working bee this Saturday 22nd October
There will be no working bee this Saturday due to the celebrations on Sunday from 4:30.
All community gardeners are welcome to join us at the garden to celebrate our 1st birthday.
Please bring a dish to share.
Last weekends "Build a backyard Vegie Patch" workshop was a great success.
Keep an eye on this blog for all future workshops.
Congratulations to all involved with the Kiama Community Garden.
Congratulations, 1 year old on Sunday!!!!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Beetroot Dip


Now that all the beetroot is planted it won’t be long before we’re eating beetroot at every meal!


Here's a recipe for Beetroot Dip.

1 bunch beetroot

2 cloves garlic – or to taste

1 cup low-fat yoghurt

2 tablespoons dill, finely chopped

Extra dill for garnish

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Trim beetroot, leaving 1cm stalks attached.

2. Place beetroot onto prepared baking tray. Spray with oil. Roast for 45 to 50 minutes or until tender when tested with a skewer. Set aside for 15 minutes to cool.

3. Gently peel and discard skin from beetroot.

4. Roughly chop beetroot. Place into a food processor with garlic. Process until smooth. Transfer to a glass bowl. Stir in yoghurt and dill, then season with salt and pepper.

Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours to allow flavours to develop. Transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with dill.

For variety, try substituting other favourite herbs: coriander works well, or a herb blend that includes parsley and basil .

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Jobs for Saturday 15th October

Last Saturday was another successful day.

Barry has protected the asparagus.

Carolyn and Norm did an excellent job on re-oiling the seating arc.


We cut the top crop of Bana grass and used it to mulch the top slope.

The small raised bed is ready for the workshop next Sunday and the
beetroot and other seedlings are safely tucked into their new beds.


Job for this Saturday are:


Tool audit


Harvest remainder of Brussels Sprouts and Sugarloaf cabbage and then clear
this garden bed for rebuilding on Sunday.

Harvest Calvalo Nero and Silver Beet from raised garden bed and then clear
this garden bed for rebuilding.


Bag current batch of hot compost and store.

Plant 2 new Rhubarb plants.

Enjoy a cuppa and a chat.

Please bring along your bags of grass clippings for the workshop on Sunday.


Hope to see you in the garden from 9am on Saturday.


Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Jobs for the working bee this Saturday 8th Oct from 9am.

- shield the asparagus from possible builder damage

- remove tyres from the smallest raised bed

- re-oil the seating arc

- turn the hot compost

- plant out the remaining beetroot seedlings

- plant out seedlings from the hot house

- tool audit

- mark positions of tools in the container

- cut bana grass

We will also be having a cupper so come along.

The havest this Wednesday afternoon was great. Spring is definately here.



Friday, September 30, 2011

A productive day





Last Saturday the 24th September a small but happy bunch of gardens got a lot done.



The Tomato seedlings from the hot house were planted out.

Two beds on the middle terrace we prep'ed then they were "no-digg'ed" and then planted out.


Les continued his heroic efforts building the "Great Wall of Les".

...and the bathtub wormfarms were completed and a house warming party was thrown for them with lots of fresh organic matter for all.
There will be NO working bee this Saturday (1st Oct) due to many gardeners being away for the long weekend.


The next working bee is Saturday the 8th October.


Hope to see you there with gloves on.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Working towards Summer! Saturday 24 September




We've all been enjoying the sunshine recently, with our Spring plantings now bursting into active growth.
But its time to remove some of the winter veges before they pass their peak. Then in return plant an abundance of green.

The time has arrived for Silverbeet, Rainbow Chard, Spring Onions, Beetroot, Leeks, Parsley and Lettuce.


Work to be done includes:
  • Preparation of new raised beds
  • Planting lots of seedlings
  • Watering
  • Work on the worm farm
  • Share morning tea
  • Enjoy each others company!

Hope to see you there - We'll probably begin early to beat the heat, with action well underway by 8.30


REMEMBER: All parking at the Leisure Centre and entry via the gate leading into the soccer fields.


Monday, September 19, 2011

Governance Meeting 21 September


If you are interested in the running of the gardens, deciding on policy, future directions etc then please come along and join us at this month's Governance Meeting on Wednesday 21 September at 6.30.

For venue details and/or to ask any questions then drop us an email at kiamagardens@gmail.com

Please note, that because of the governance meeting there will NOT be a regular general meeting at the gardens on Wednesday

Thursday, September 15, 2011

"Wow, the garden is really 'Pumping'!"

Spring has well and truly arrived at the garden; as one visitor was overheard to say, "Wow, the garden is really Pumping!". Well, if we do say so ourselves, it really is!

The photograph to the left is the top terrace where we are growing cabbage, brussel sprouts, potatoes, carrots, beetroot, onions, garlic, turnips, spinach, artichoke, beans and peas. And of course salad greens and herbs. Oh, and citrus and passionfruit!

The second terrace too is really coming together.
We have recently rejuvenated and planted out a few beds. In these new beds we have beans, corn and zuchinni already showing great promise. And our first pumpkins are in. While the broccoli and cauliflower are finished we are still cropping snow beans and now broad beans too. In order to extend our planting area and help stabilise the terrace we commenced building a terraced retaining wall last weekend (that's it to the right).


We will be planting our cucumbers into these beds. And the best news of all is so many of these crops are coming on from our very own seeds, saved from our very first crops last year. And of course we are enthusiastically producing compost (that's some of the crew turning our heap below); recently adding a new composting area on the middle terrace.


COME JOIN US THIS SATURDAY 17 September, when we will:
  • Continue building worm farms from old bath tubs
  • Plant out choko vines
  • Trim and feed passionfruit vines
  • Feed artichokes
  • Complete work on retaining wall terrace
  • Plant out cucumbers seedlings

Thursday, September 8, 2011

It must be Saturday (again)!

Come join us this Saturday 10 September from 9 onwards to toil on:

  • Building a retaining wall. We will be filling 'sand' bags with soil and using them to reinforce the slope of the second terrace. This will allow us to build-up the slope so we can plant out our cucumber seedlings
  • Turning compost
  • Planting out seedlings and direct planting more seeds
  • Making a support for our freshly planted out bean seedlings
  • Creating worm farms. We will continue work on building worm farms from old bath tubs

Remember: All Parking at the Leisure Centre. Enter the garden through the gate from the Soccer fields.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Spring is bringing out the punters!


Last Saturday saw a record crowd turn up for our working bee, we got a lot done and we had a good time. Which is what it is all about. The photo to the left is us taking a break, enjoying morning tea together.

This SATURDAY 3 SEPTEMBER will see us gather again. The list of jobs is varied as usual:
- Plant out corn seedlings
- Prepare the top slope for planting out cucumber seedlings
- Plant cucumber seedlings out
- Continue feeding the fruit trees
- Direct planting zucchini seeds in raised domes
- Plant up seeds such as zucchini and pumpkin to grow on in the hot house
- Plant out bean seedlings in top terrace and interplant with bean seeds


Gabrielle and Julie will be there at 9 to 'direct' proceedings this week. Come early and put in a couple of good hours before the sun gets too high in the sky! There is plenty to harvest and share too - including our first crops of artichokes and broad beans.



Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Catching up on lost time!

Work to be finished on Saturday 27 August.

Various events, including weather and other commitments, have left us with several jobs that have been been begun, but not yet finished. Warm conditions and lengthening day length have hastened growth, both in the garden and the hothouse.
This weekend we will be marking out and beginning to construct new garden beds in the middle terrace, making room for some of our amazing seedlings to be transplanted.

There are also plenty of other small jobs to lend a hand to.

Please join us in the garden this Saturday, to work, chat and catch up again. Let's share our ideas about what we most want to grow in the flourishing season that lies ahead.

Remember:
All Parking at the Leisure Centre.
Enter the garden through the gate from the Soccer fields.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

More Preparing and Planting on ... Saturday 20 August

If you visit the garden this Saturday,
You can help plant some delicious perennials
and some old favourite spring annuals too.

Jobs to be done this Saturday from 9am
  • Revitalise some of the old eggplant and capsicum beds in readiness for planting peas and beans.
  • Plant peas and beans.
  • Thin Out Strawberries in raised beds and pot up those plants removed.
  • Compost and manure Asparagus bed.
  • Plant Asparagus Crowns.
  • Compost and manure locations for Rhubarb.
  • Plant Rhubarb Crowns.
  • Mark new crop rotation beds with the appropriately coloured pegs.
Please remember:
Park at the Leisure Centre only
Enter the garden through the gate leading from the soccer fields.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Something for everyone!

This Saturday 13 August will see us gather to toil in the garden again - the list for this week is below. In case you are wondering whether there might be any chores you can help out with, let us assure you that is something for everyone to do at a garden working-bee. Here is a collection from a few recent working bees: sowing seeds; re-mulching pathways; maintaining and marking tools; potting up plants such as strawberry runners; building (our current project is creating worm farms out of old bath tubs); caring for the produce (watering, mulching, netting, creating support structures) and of course planting out seeds and (now) our very own seedlings from our hot-house!




Every season is different in the garden. At the moment we are rejoicing in the produce that is thriving including: leeks, chard, garlic, potatoes,kale, spinach, broad beans, climbing peas, snow peas, cauliflower, broccoli, onions and artichokes.

In the hot-house we continue to sow seeds that will transition into the garden as spring comes on. One thing that we know is that we are entering the season of growth, which means lots of care but also, lots and lots of harvesting!




Hopefully you can see yourself somewhere in one of these pictures!


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Jobs for Saturday 13th August

Last weekend was a beauty, great people, great weather and lots done. Very Satisfying.
Join us in the garden this Saturday for...
- Water the garden with Jeff's liquid manure
- Jeff will teach us to make more liquid manure for spring
- Clean out the celery and iceberg lettuce beds and refresh them the "no dig" way
- Sow more seeds in the hot house
- Install cyclone wire in the hot house for the climbing beans and peas
- Turn the hot compost
- Continue the construction of the bath tub worm farms
- Experiment curl grub cure by water/molasses mix on half the compost pile
- Enjoy a tea/coffe and each other's company

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Jobs for Saturday 6th of August


Jobs for Saturday 6th of August – 9am onwards.


Last weekend was a great success, we really made the most of the sunny weather after so much rain. Thank you for all those who were able to come along.


We will be meeting at the garden at 9am regardless of the weather. If the weather is not suitable for gardening we will be going for a coffee so please join us.


Prepare beds


Plant Seedlings


Plant up strawberry bags


Plant more seeds in trays in the hot house


Set up netting around the middle water tank to grow peas up

Plant asparagus in the 1/2 wine barrel


Start work on the bath tub worm farms


Document the seeds


Rivet the loose section of coping on the meeting room roof


Oil the seating arc


Share a cup of tea or coffee and a chat


This is an optimistic list!


If people would like to bring cake or biscuits for morning tea it would be greatly appreciated. For those that can’t bring a snack there is the option of a gold coin donation.


Let’s make the most of this warmer weather.


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Let's get back into the garden...

There will be a working bee on Saturday the 30th July starting at 9am (weather permitting). Jobs to be done include:


Gravel into hot house

Pot up/plant peas and beans

Turn the hot compost pile

Aerate the “Dalek” compost bins

Dig in green manure

Harvest

Put some of the bagged compost on beds for spring

Empty the horse poo bags

Dismantle the White Cabbage Moth exclusion netting on the lower bed (only)

Plant more seed trays in hot house (especially lettuce if we have the seeds)


NOTE: All parking at Leisure Centre
Strictly no parking at Blue Haven
Access is via gate from soccer fields.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Saturday 23 July - Spare Hands Welcome!


There will be a working bee on Saturday the 23rd July starting at 9am (weather permitting). Jobs to be done include:

  • Turning the hot compost pile
  • Fixing shade cloth to the repaired fence as windbreak for the hot house
  • Straightening up the scare crows
  • Aeration of the “Dalek” compost bins
  • Emptying the horse poo bags
  • Dismantling the White Cabbage Moth exclusion netting on the lower bed (only)
  • Planting more seed trays in hot house (especially lettuce if we have the seeds)

Let's all hope for good weather!


NOTE: All parking at Leisure Centre
Strictly no parking at Blue Haven
Access is via gate from soccer fields.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Thinking of Spring - Warming work through July


There's lots to be done at the Community Garden this Winter.


The first of our July Working bees is this Saturday 2nd July. There's seed to plant, Seedlings to pot up, Work to do on realigning the top slope and Pathways to surface.

Come and join us from about 9am until early afternoon.
There should be plenty of work for all, so see you there!

All parking is at the Leisure Centre Car Park.
No parking is allowed at Blue Haven.
Entry is via the soccer fields


Friday, June 24, 2011

Getting in before tomorrow comes ...

I thought I best 'blog' last weekend before tomorrow comes. Because with tomorrow comes another working bee, and more photos. So, back to last weekend ... If you have been reading the blog you already know we had a visit from some community gardeners from Mt Kembla on Sunday. But while Kathy and I were 'front of house', showing the group around a trio of very persistent, patient and personable volunteers were working away in the background constructing our hot-house. Imagine, if you will, a really really large multiple-pack IKEA flat-pack. Starting to panic at the thought of construction? Now let me add that the flat-pack came from China, and, yep, you guessed it, all the instructions are in Chinese! Thankfully there are photographs (in English). The construction has been happening for weeks now - nights, weekends, many many hours. And last weekend the crew got 'all-but' there, only the door to go. Well done Jo (left), Les (middle) and Eddie (and everyone else who helped along the way). It's looking awesome!

Another new edition to our happy garden is our very first worm farm. We have old bath tubs on-site ready to use for building large versions, but meanwhile, we have set up our first portable unit using recycled 'broccoli' boxes. Thanks go to Julie H for bringing in the gear and for sharing some of her precious worms with us. "ED's worm farm" already looks right at home. And Eddie looks very very happy to have one more thing to look after!

Getting in before tomorrow comes also means lots and lots of planning. In winter we are planning for spring, in spring we will be planning for summer etc. It is all part of building a sustainable garden. Right now we are working on our slopes. On Saturday 18 June we worked with Aaron and Dan, our mentors, on a micro-design for the three sloped banks between our terraces. The following pictures are from our workshop.


It is vitally important that we get the design of these right; like the total garden we are working with permaculture design principles to ensure that the banks are sustainable and productive areas. This doesn't just mean growing food, although in the last six months we have grown abundant crops of cucumbers, snake beans and sweet potatoes on the slopes. It means that what we do with the slopes must contribute to the total garden 'system'.
The slopes are important for drainage, they offer space for us to build wind breaks and provide area for planting out important support plants, like those that fix nitrogen in the soil, provide 'chop n drop' mulch or provide habitat. As always our 'permaculture master classes' are totally inspirational. Very hands-on they provide
rich learning for us all.




This weekend it is time to commence putting these latest plans into action. The sun WILL be shining on Saturday. At least in our garden it will be. Come join us!

dcg

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Join us in June.

Come along and fill the seats, Talk .............. Work ............... Share morning tea,



Find out about Kiama Community Garden.

25th June

From about 9am until early afternoon - Interested people welcome.

A small group will be working to complete the hot house. Library books need to be covered. There will be new plants to be planted and work to modify the top slope will begin.

PLEASE NOTE: Park at the Leisure Centre car park.
Enter via the soccer fields.
Strictly no parking at Blue Haven.

Of community workshops and visitors

Obviously here, at the gardens, we are about ..., ummm, gardening. Go figure. But a community garden is so very much more. It is also a place to gather, share, teach and learn. From the very beginning we 'wished' that the garden would be a site where members of the community could come and learn. This blog is about 3 such events.

Back in February we hosted a Propagation Workshop
, with Karl, the workshop facilitator, working with the group (a mix of community gardeners and others) teaching us about propagating from seed and cuttings.

Karl is very involved in bush regeneration work, so the day was particularly focused on knowing your local 'natives', collecting seed and cuttings from indigenous plants and growing local species from 'scratch'. The benefits for us of hosting such an event were many - we learnt (we will be propagating in our own hot-house soon), we shared our space and we gained new members!

To mark National Composting Day/Week (who would have thought there was such a thing), in early May, Penny from Wollongong Botanical Gardens facilitated a Composting Workshop. She shared her wisdom regarding all things 'compost' (and gee, does she know a thing or two). We looked at composting, bokashi bins and worm farms. Once again we regulars got much out of it, and got to share our own composting practice, which includes compost bins, a compost bay, which you can read about in a previous post (pictured below), and worm farming.

I end this blog with a photo from today, 19 June. A group of folks interested in getting a community garden up and running in the Mt Kembla region visited our garden. They had also visited the PCYC garden in North Wollongong and the Lane-way in Port Kembla so we gather they had heard the message "WE AIM TO GROW SOIL, (NOT FOOD)" a few times!


We spoke to them about the history of our garden, our philosophy and practice around gardening, composting, soil nurturing, harvesting etc. It was a great visit; we wish them luck with their endeavours!

By the way, they are seated on our awesome 'seating arc' - lovingly constructed using recycled materials by some very cleaver folk at the gardens, lead by 'our' Joe.


Creative gardening to you all!


DCG

Earning your (pumpkin) cake

As Kathy says, come along and join us next Saturday 25 June. We are self-confessed 'foodies' at the gardens and we love to share. We promise, you will both earn and enjoy the morning tea.


Pumpkin, Walnut and Raisin Cake


250 g butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3 cups wholemeal flour (or 2 cups wholemeal*

1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon all spice or mixed spice

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups mashed pumpkin^

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped raisins


* To make a slightly lighter and yet still wholesome version try 2 cups wholemeal and 1 cup white flour

^ I used Jap pumpkin, but any richly flavoured and coloured pumpkin would do


Preheat oven to 125 C. Grease and flour entire 23 cm cake tin and line the bottom for extra good measure.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Sift dry ingredients together, and add alternatively with pumpkin to creamed mixture. Add walnuts and raisins and beat well. Pour into cake tin and bake for 90 – 100 mins or until cooked through.


NB This is a very moist cake so make sure you line the cake tin well and cook at low temp as indicated. It is also a large and hearty cake so for a smaller version half the mixture works well in a small-medium loaf tin. NOT that it needs it, BUT lemon icing does work well is you are so inclined. Decorate with cinnamon and walnuts if iced.

(Original recipe from Cake Bible (2006), Published by Penguin, adapted by me!)