The Hub’s Community Garden

There’s a growing number of community garden volunteers at the Toronto Community Centenary Hub (97 The Boulevarde) who are gaining skills and camaraderie.

The group meets weekly on a Wednesday 3:30-5pm however for the rest of March it will be on a Tuesday. The community garden is also open Saturdays from 9 am - 12 noon.

Upcoming activities include 

• harvesting figs on Saturday 13/3, 
• a cooking demonstration on fig preserve on Saturday 20th March, 
• The garden meeting on Tuesday 23rd March at 5pm after Tuesday gardening
• Community Garden Plant sale/morning tea, sausage sizzle on 17th April.

The group’s activities are on the Hub’s facebook page.

A Community Garden is growing at Carey Bay

Behind the Scout Hall at Carey Bay, 74 Excelsior Pde, there’s a community garden that is now cultivating a community to support its growth. The mission is to develop and provide a resource for the community of fresh vegetables and fruit and the opportunity to engage with like-minded folk, learn news skills and share knowledge about planting and growing your own fruit and vegetables.

Lyndon Duncan-Watt is the co-ordinator and has been doing the preparation work building on the garden infrastructure that was established at the Scout Hall by the Jobskills crew.

The community garden has been fenced, there are garden beds in place, a shed and a shade house all ready to go. Lyndon has been testing the soil, sorting out the shade angles and ensuring the overall layout of the garden is optimal for growth.

The garden beds have been resized and the height adjusted, the soil pH corrected and test plantings undertaken to ensure there are enough pollinators present. There have been some successful plantings, and harvests, and now the gates are swinging open to invite budding green thumbs to join in the growth of the garden.

There is still a lot to do with plans for a citrus grove, a compost heap, more garden beds and of course growing vegetables and fruit… and the more the merrier.

The garden will be open to one & all, on demand, from Wednesday 14th March. A facebook page is in the wings and a flyer is on its way. Contact Lyndon on 0422 709 749 and he’ll gladly be there to open up and share the joys of growing.

Community Garden coming to a Scout Hall near you!

You may have noticed the major upgrade of the Toronto Scout Hall on Excelsior Parade over the past year but did you know it now also includes a community garden?

Chris Murphy, the Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group’s Community Garden coordinator has visited the site and spoken to the project manager Jeff from The Skills Generator, a Work for the Dole organization, who undertook the project. Chris provided the following report at the recent TASNG meeting.

The grounds have been securely fenced with lockable gates and plumbed water. Several raised garden beds have been built and a garden shed, citrus row, seating and shade structures are planned.

The project funding will finish this year and The Skills Generator crew would like the local community to become involved and, in due course, take “ownership” of the Community Garden.

If you are interested in any of the benefits of community gardening such as meeting like minded people, growing and sharing fresh produce, expanding your physical fitness, learning about plant propagation, composting and recycling, or calming your mind by connecting with soil and being near beautiful bushland with abundant birdlife then get in touch.

You can contact Chris Murphy from TASNG on 0438 504 039 or visit the Scout Hall 8am-4pm on week days and talk to Jeff from the Skills Generator

The Hub Garden Show 20/9/14

TASNG Community Garden by Chris Murphy

At the end of 2013 a new page was turned for the Toronto Seniors and Citizens Club who, with help from the local Lion's Club, have reinvented themselves and are now a new organisation - The Toronto Community Centenary Hub!  

This is now an evolving organisation for all members of the community, young and old to come together and join in many new activities. The Hub will now be the parent body for the Community Garden.

Late 2013 the council supported a proposal by the Toronto Area Community Garden for additional accessible vegie beds, a food forest (fruit trees, berries), an irrigation system and more. The Hub will implement this project, what a wonderful start to the year!

Farewell and thank you to Michelle and Bea who have been instrumental in making the local community garden a reality. Welcome to Chris Murphy the new community garden contact mob 1048 504 039.

Dates for the Diary

• Awabakal Wildflower Walk Sunday 1st September, Ocean St Dudley
  
• Earthbagging Workshop: Saturday 7th Sept 10am-5pm Senior Citz. 97 The Boulevarde
• Coal Point Progress Committee Meeting :
  Monday 9th Sept Progress Hall 4-6pm
• Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood AGM : Wednesday 11th Sept. Progress Hall 5-6.30pm
• Bioblitz for Beginners: Saturday 14th Sept Progress Hall 9am-4pm
• Fire Retardant Planting: Sunday 22nd Sept- 9.30-11am- Fire Station
• Landcare & Catchment Forum 3-5 Sept- Newcastle City Hall
  
  Landcare Muster 3/9/13- bus from Landcare Centre
• Living Smart Festival: Saturday 28/9/13 - 8am-2pm Speers Point Park: The Lorax, eco displays, handmade items & more

Earthbagging workshop

Dates for the Diary

Local Landcaring every Thursday around Coal Point

April  : Gurranba Reserve

Thursday 4/4/13 - with Green Team.
Every Thursday with volunteers from Trees In Newcastle.

Ring Robyn for details : 4959 1507

Lake Mac Workshops at the Landcare Resource Centre, Five Islands Rd: 

Make your own backyard habitat workshop
Saturday 20/4/13 : 1-3pm. Frog ponds, possum boxes and a whole lot more.

Create your own Naturewatch Diary 

Saturday 25/5/13 10.30-12.30

Community Garden Working Bee

Saturday 6/4/13 1.30pm at the Toronto Senior Citizens Hall, 97 The Boulevarde, Toronto.
There’s more planting, eating and chatting to be done. Not to mention plenty of sitting back and admiring our efforts to date!
Bring your friends and family www.facebook.com/groups/torontoareacommunitygarden

Progress Committee Meetings

8/4/13   April 

13/5/13  May

No June Meeting

8/7/13 July

12/8/13 August

9/9/13 September

14/10/13 October

10/11/13 November

9/12/13 December

Landcare dates

The Landcare program for 2013 is outlined below - Each month the Reserve mentioned will be the focus of attention.
The dates noted are for the Lake Macquarie Landcare volunteer support days

Every Thursday Trees In Newcastle volunteers lend a hand as well. 

April 

Gurranba Reserve 4/4/13

May 

West Ridge Reserves 2/5/13

June 

Laycock St South 6/6/13

July 

Stansfield Reserve 4/7/13

July 28^th

National Tree Day- Carey Bay Wetlands

August 

Burnage Reserve 8/8/13

September 

Gurranba  Reserve 5/9/13

October 

West Ridge Reserves 3/10/13

November 

Yural/Ambrose St Reserves 7/11/13

December

Carey Bay Wetlands 12/12/13

February 2014 

Carey Bay Wetlands  6/2/14

TORONTO AREA COMMUNITY GARDEN by Michelle Teear

MARCH NEWSLETTER 2013

IN THE GARDEN THis PAST MONTH...
Silverbeet, white onion, red onion, beetroot, broccoli and passionfruit. Start digging out those favourite winter recipes as our crops are in the ground and growing for a hearty winter harvest!
We also harvested a bountiful basket after basket of late summer crops. Eggplant dip anyone? Produce that was not taken home has been offered for sale at the hall and is making us a tidy bit of petty cash.

COMING UP IN APRIL....
NEXT GET-TOGETHER
1.30pm SAT 6^th APRIL at the Toronto Senior Citizens Hall, 97 The Boulevarde, Toronto.
There’s more planting, eating and chatting to be done. Not to mention plenty of sitting back and admiring our efforts to date!
Bring your friends and family and afternoon tea to share.

FUNDRAISING STALL AT THE TORONTO LIONS MARKETS: 7am – 12pm SUN 21st APRIL at the Lions Park, Cary St Toronto.
We will be running a stall to raise funds to expand the garden and facilities at the Seniors Hall. 
Stall Assistants: If you can donate some time to help with running the stall please contact the committee to put your name down.
Donations: Second hand goods, seedlings, seeds or other plant material is required to sell. If you have something to donate please bring non perishable items to the hall at our next meeting, plants can be brought to the stall early on the market day.

THE CAREY BAY SITE...
COMMITTEE MEMBERS WANTED FOR A GARDEN IN CAREY BAY
Calling all shy committee members to be! If you would like to be apart of making something beautiful happen in your community then please get in touch with the committee to find out more. Requirements: no special skills just lots of ‘can do’!

WHAT TO PLANT THIS MONTH...
Snow Peas, Green Beans, Peas, Broad Beans, Broccoli, Beetroot, Cabbage, Garlic, Cauliflower, Onion, Kale, Celery, Khol Rabi,Celeriac, Lettuce, Spinach ,Silver beet, Shallots, Leek, Turnip.

MORE...
MAKE THIS NEWSLETTER YOUR NEWSLETTER – CALLING FOR CONTRIBUTIONS...
Do you have a gardening tip, a great story, photos, something to swap/sell or ideas to share? We welcome relevant contributions from the community to this newsletter. Please contact Michelle (TACG Publicity) bellbirdfe@gmail.com

LOCAL COMMUNITY EVENTS CALENDAR

Make your own backyard habitat
Learn about the importance of backyard habitat for local native animals, and discover how to create a frog pond and possum nest box in your own backyard.

When: Saturday 20 April
Where: Landcare Resource Centre, corner Teralba and Five Islands Rd, Teralba
Time: 1-3pm
Cost: Free

Bookings essential to Council
on 4921 0333.

Regular Beginners Gardening Workshops

First and third Friday of the month, 10am start

A basic, hands-on gardening workshop on how to grow and maintain a garden.

Belmont Community Garden, at Belmont Neighbourhood Centre.

For more information, contact Chris, Community Garden Coordinator.  Find him garden Mon to Fri 8am to 12 noon, 49470031 or at garden@bnc.asn.au.

MEET THE COMMITTEE

Michelle Teear (Publicity)             4023 8304
Bea Tanner Burgoine (Toronto Senior Citizens Liason)

Join our Face Book Group: share tips, stories photos and meet other gardeners and wannabe gardeners..... www.facebook.com/groups/torontoareacommunitygarden

Please share this newsletter with others...
Growing Community

Community Garden-TASNG

The harvest

IN THE GARDEN- THE PAST MONTH...
We have been harvesting our Summer bounty of corn, cucumbers, beans and arm loads of eggplants. It’s amazing what can pop up out of edge of our little carpark at the Toronto Senior Citizens Hall.

VERANDAH GARDEN IS IN THE MAKING
The local Mens Shed have kindly volunteered to build our retaining wall for the next stage of the garden to be located between the back veranda and carpark.

Plans and materials are being finalized ready to start building soon.

WHATS NEXT WITH THE PONY CLUB?
Next step for the proposed Community Garden on Hampton Ct parkland in Carey Bay is to build a full working committee.

We have a couple of people available to work on this committee, but we need more to make it happen. Lend a hand to   your community and be apart of this exciting project. Please contact Tricia Hunt (Chair Person) 4959 8811 if you would like to find out more.

WHAT TO PLANT THIS MONTH...
Snow Peas ,Green Beans, Broad Beans, Turnip, Broccoli, Beetroot, Cabbage, Garlic, Cauliflower ,Onion, Kale, Celery, Khol Rabi, Celeriac, Lettuce,  Spinach,Silver beet Shallots, Leek

The Senior Citz garden does, however, need attention and we have seedlings waiting to be planted. The next a gardening day is Saturday - 9th March - from 1.30pm. The garden will soon be open on a regular basis at this time so this is a start.

If you are free and you would like to be part of the community involved, that would be great. All the more the merrier! And all the more achieved of course.

The Toronto Area Community Garden Group

The Toronto Area Community Garden Group has its own Newsletter being compiled by Michelle Teear. If you would like to to be on the email list contact Tricia Hunt 4959 8811. Here are some snippets from the Newsletter.

FUNDING AWARDED

We wish to thank Lake Macquarie Council and Tidy Towns for giving $1000 to the Toronto Area Community Garden. What a great start to get the garden going!
 

AUGUST GET-TOGETHER: PLANNING WORKSHOP

On the 4th of August we had a great turn out for the first planning workshop of the community garden at the Senior Citizens Hall in Toronto. We welcomed many new faces, including some young school age budding gardeners. Liza Pezzano from Hunter Permaculture kindly donated her time and expertise to give us a grounding in the ethics and principles of permaculture (permanenant agriculture). This sustainable design philosophy provides some wonderful practical ideas that we can apply to the site such as the use of companion planting. A tour of the site followed with afternoon tea and an inspiring brainstorm session of wants and needs for the garden.
In order of priority...
                                                                                                         Needs: 
Water tank/taps
Tools
Propagation Area
Raised Garden Beds
Vegetables
Herbs


Wants:
Fruit Trees in Pots/Fruits
Plan for Children
Pond/Water Feature 
Art
Living screen for protected seating area
Fundraiser/Market on site
 

MEETING AT PONY CLUB GROUNDS WITH COUNCIL

4pm Friday 31st August, Old Pony Club Grounds in Hampton Ct, Carey Bay
Council have asked us to meet with them to discuss our interest in applying for use of the land in Carey Bay for a community Garden. This is an important opportunity for us to display the level of interest and commitment from the local community for the garden. So rally your friends and neighbours and come on down to the park for a chat and a show of support.

NEXT GET-TOGETHER

1.30pm SAT 1st September at the Toronto Senior Citizens Hall, 97 The Boulevarde, Toronto.
Come along and contribute your ideas to the designs for both the Senior Citz Hall garden and that of the proposed Carey Bay garden.

Snr Citz Hall Garden: phase two of planning the garden at the hall: partake in the garden layout brainstorm. We are hoping to arrange a soil analysis to take place on the day. 

So come along and learn more about soil and how we can get the most out of our site. 

Carey Bay Garden: Contribute your ideas to what our garden will be... Fruit trees, veggies, bees? There will be an ideas workshop and a survey to fill to out. If you cannot attend but wish to contribute your ideas, please contact Tricia Hunt for a survey.
Bring your friends and family and afternoon tea to share.
 

HERE’S YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO BE AT THE HEART OF YOUR COMMUNITY’S GARDEN


JOIN THE COMMITTEE.


A community garden is a wonderful thing for any community and we look forward to putting our first plant into the ground. However before we can get to this point there is planning and liaison work with land owners to undertake. This job is performed by the elected committee.

A healthy working committee is essential to making it all happen. So this is where you come in, we need your help! The more hands on board the lighter the load and faster the work can get done. Being on the committee is only a small commitment. On average to date we've found that each member has only needed to commit 1 - 2 hours a week (including meetings) to doing the job. Being on the committee is a great opportunity to learn new skills and make new friends. No special skills are required to join.

We require interested persons to fill the following positions:


• Secretary (must have basic computer skills)

• Treasurer 


If you are interested in either of the above roles, please contact the committee to discuss.
Tricia Hunt-Chairperson 4959 8811
Michelle Teear- Publicity 4023 8304
Ira Rantanen- Publicity
Bea Burgoine- Toronto Senior Citizens Liaison
Suzanne Pritchard- Committee
 

Join our Face Book Group: share tips, stories photos and meet other gardeners and wannabe gardeners..... www.facebook.com/groups/445900508768505/?bookmark_t=group


What have the Working groups been upto?

Toronto Area Community Garden are organizing a planning workshop for a community gardening space at Toronto Senior Citizens Hall, set for Saturday 4th August 1.30pm, at 97 The Boulevarde, Toronto, with parking at rear, access via driveway.

The grounds of the Senior Citizens Hall may provide a learning and growing space for interested gardeners to gather and grow not only vegetables but friendships around the larger goal of trying to get a fully functioning Community Garden within our community.
As with any well thought out garden planning is essential and we’ll be looking at the space around Centenary Hall and the potential for propagation.  Please bring afternoon tea to share.

All welcome, seasoned and new gardener's alike. Inquiries: Tricia 4959 8811 or Michelle 0402924819. You can get updates on the Toronto Area Community Group on Facebook.
 
The Pedestrian-Cycleways team has also been meeting and discussing priority projects for the next few years. They are in the process of putting a map together of the local access/safety issues and undertaking a survey of the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists in the area. If you would like to go for a walk and talk about the issues please get in touch.

The group has an online survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/8KHW9JX if you would like to provide some comments on your cycling habits to inform the process.

Tony (ph 49598811) and Nico (nico.marcar@gmail.com) are the group’s contacts.
 
The Landcare arm of the local Sustainable Neighbourhood project includes the local Progress activities and Kilaben Bay Landcare, who are planning a massed planting in the near future. The Lake Macquarie Landcare Office has contact details for the local groups. Robyn Gill is our local contact 49591507.

http://coalpointprogress.blogspot.com

The online version of the Chronicle at http://coalpointprogress.blogspot.com offers a few extras that aren’t possible in the paper version. There are links to other local organisation’s web presences, surveys to complete, pictures in colour, access to maps and all the Chronicle articles since 2009 all in the one spot and highly searchable.

Some recent additions to the local links include

• LT Creek Sustainable Neighbourhood Group: http://ltcreek.wordpress.com/ This group also has Robyn Charlton as the community representative on the Newstan Community Consultative Committee for Centennial Coal. If you want the low down on what’s happening under the ground this is the place to look. http://ltcreek.wordpress.com/centennial-coal-the-community/
• The local vegetable growing community may be interested in the online calendar which outlines what to grow when at http://www.gardenate.com/zones/Australia+-+temperate?month=7
• There is also an eco-living blog by Michelle Teear, a local Community Garden stalwart http://bellbirdsnpeashoots.blogspot.com.au/

Sustainable Neighbourhood Update

The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (TASNG) is gathering momentum as the various project groups are getting their plans on paper and working through the Sustainable Neighbourhood process to make local projects a reality.
 
The recent Toronto Area Community Garden gathering at the Pony Club attracted 25 people, all with an interest in creating a social edible gardening space. The group was multigenerational which bodes well for the future and had a combination of experienced and newby veggie growers, providing pathways to share knowledge. Those present managed to chat and share ideas and knowledge for over two hours. 
 
There was certainly Community Garden momentum and there will be a follow-up meeting on Wednesday March 14th , 7pm at the Toronto Library meeting room. This meeting will discuss forming a committee to help develop a local community garden. There will be positions to be discussed and filled including Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and Publicity.

The tap for the tapping the worm juice

At the Toronto Area Community Garden gathering a worm farm demonstration by Michelle was just the inspiration needed to run out grab the first two broccoli boxes available and get worming. A quick search on the internet shows there are lots of easy to follow guides on how to make a wormfarm. Michelle’s demonstration followed this guide. The worm farm was up and running in under 20 minutes, and that included lots of questions.
 
The best thing about worm farms are you get a great return in the form of turning vegetable scraps into high powered plant food and they don’t take up much space.

Putting the worm farm together

The core ingredients were

• Two nested broccoli boxes with a ‘tap’ for extracting worm juice and a tight lid.
• Mesh/flyscreen to stop the worms falling through the pierced upper box



The flyscreen to stop the worms falling out

• Shredded newspaper, old compost, leaves or soil form the bedding for the worms and some worms.

Community Gardening

Growing fresh local veggies is on the rise. There’s more to it than compost and sunshine though. Meeting people who have the grow-know is a great way to learn, make friends and get some great ideas. 

 
On Saturday 18th February 4-7pm, locals will be gathering at the Pony Club to garner interest for a community garden on the site. There is a process for getting a Community Garden up and running and this is what will be discussed. There will also be plant & veggie swap and a worm farming demo. Contact Michelle 0402924819 or Tricia 49598811 for more details
If you’d like to garden but don’t know what to grow there’s a planting guide on the Hunter Organic Growers’s (HOGs) website
 
HOGs also run monthly field days from noon-4pm. On Saturday 11 February at Wendy Abel’s home, 14 Woodley St Eleebana, there will be the sort of field day everyone enjoys; a look at a  suburban backyard garden that makes the most of limited space very successfully. Wendy has raised garden beds for vegetables and chooks to show us.
 
We’ll be car pooling to the HOGs field day from the Carey Bay Shops. Contact Tricia for details on 4959 8811.

Dates for the Diary

• Wednesday Dec. 14th 7pm Community Gardeners and Vegetable growers meeting at Progress Hall
• Saturday February 18th 2012, 4-7pm Community Garden Picnic at the Pony Club.
• Saturday 3rd March 2012, 5-8pm at Progress Hall. The Songs of Henry Lawson & Tunes of Waltzing Matilda
• Monday 5th March, 7pm at Progress Hall. Annual General Meeting of the Coal Point Progress Association. The Progress Association provides a vehicle for community contributions and manages the maintenance and upkeep of Progress Hall. 
If you would like to be involved talk to Suzanne  on 4959 6741 about what is involved.
• Local Landcaring each Thursday Ring Robyn for details
 4959 1507

Vegetable Growers & Community Gardeners

Over the past 12 months a group of local vegetable growers have regularly gathered to discuss how, in the short term, to best to support the community in growing food in their own backyard and in the long term pursue a community garden project on public land.
 
Monthly meetings continue to be held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at Progress Hall from 7pm. The next meeting is Wednesday 14th December.
 
A proposal to convert the front yard of Progress Hall into a demonstration vegetable garden will be discussed and interest gathered to determine if it is a viable project. 
 
Also for your diaries, if you’re interested in having a Community Garden in the area, there will be a social picnic held on Saturday 18th February 2012, 4pm - 7pm at the Pony Club
 
For further information on or to RSVP for these events, please contact Michelle on 0402924819 or email bellbirdfe@gmail.com

In the vegie patch

Spring is here and the time has come to get out your tools and get busy planting out your vegie garden. During August hopefully you dug your plot over and gave it a good does of lime, compost and manure. You would have removed all the weeds and it would be brimming with life just beneath the surface awaiting the summer crop.

Salad vegies are probably the first that spring to mind and a variety of small sowings would be suitable now. It’s better to sow a little at a time every few weeks to give a continuous and varied supply throughout the season, especially if you’re only feeding a few.

Plants to grow include: cabbage, capsicum, silverbeet, lettuce, spring onion, tomato.
Seeds to sow include: beetroot, carrot, cucumber, marrow, parsnip, pea, radish, sweetcorn, zucchini and pumpkin.

A few tips:

• Cabbage: Sprinkle the outer leaves with Derris Dust to scare off white butterfly-one dusting usually does the trick.
• Sweetcorn: Plant 2-3 rows or in a group as it is wind pollinated. Pick when the tassle is brown.
• Carrot: Don’t manure prior to sowing as it causes deformed root growth.
• Pumpkin: When the flowers are formed pinch off the leading shoots to promote clumping growth.
• Cucumber: Sow amongst the Sweetcorn. They will use the spent corn stalks as a climbing frame.

Community Garden Goss

Since the workshop in August there has been activity in various areas.

The Community Gardening crew meet regularly on the 2nd Wednesday  of the month All are welcome. The group will discuss how to go about getting a great crop in your own backyard and progress gathering interest in a community garden.

LMCC has a Community Garden Policy. It is well worth reading as it clearly describes the process that has to be undertaken for planning a community garden, approvals etc:

Some great community gardening websites:

http://communitygarden.org.au/

http://www.northeystreetcityfarm.org.au/

http://www.thesharehood.org/community-gardening

http://sydneycityfarm.org/

http://www.sgaonline.org.au/?p=1263