A rare opportunity exists to rent a plot at Mandurah Community Gardens!​

Mandurah Community Gardens is having a stall at the Pinjarra Garden Day on Sunday 17th October 9am to 3pm, located at the Edenvale Heritage Precinct, 1 George St in Pinjarra.

We had the pleasure of 40 children from 4 Big Kids OSHC visiting Mandurah Community Gardens as part of their school holiday program. The children who were aged from 6 to 12, rotated in groups through 3 activities.  MCG President Jenny showed how to add soil and different flower seeds to a cut down egg carton then add sticks for feelers to make it look like a caterpillar. 

MCG Secretary Lana explained how to create a dinosaur garden in a clean recycled pot using succulents and stones.

And Cheryl the Garden Coordinator talked about compost worms and worm farms. Worms don't like skin so the children used a stick to find baby worms and big worms and worm eggs.
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The group took their creations home and plan to install a worm farm at their  centre soon. They will have plenty of children to look after these special creatures. 

A fantastic day had by all and an opportunity to reuse, repurpose and recycle made it even better. A big THANKS to Jenny and Lana - I couldn't have managed it without your help!
~ Cheryl

​Cheryl recounts the day:
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It was a great day with 26 other like-minded gardening enthusiasts from all over the metro area. We shared nasturtium pesto, a yummy pumpkin cake and some  roasted pumpkin seeds for afternoon tea. A delightful way to spend the afternoon. 

​We heard all about the history of tomatoes and how soil can be improved to suit growing vegetables, etc. We planted a couple of different varieties of tomato  seeds and will plant them in the communal beds at the garden. 

We had a tour of the garden and loved all the clever ideas. There were 2 Hills Hoist clothes lines being used for a passionfruit trellis, which provided shade as well.
​Re-use and repurpose was a common theme with 2 fridges used as worm farms as well. Lots of sheep manure was used as mulch and everything was looking green and lovely. 

Thanks to all those who organised this event and hosted us.

Mandurah Community Gardens was contacted  by Katherine, one of the organisers of the Australian Association For Environmental Education's (AAEE) 21st Biennial Conference and 4th Research Symposium being  held in Mandurah on the 28th to the 30th September. This conference aims to showcase innovative, practical and effective tools to help us "change the tides" of environmental and sustainability education.

The community  garden  was asked if we would accept the organic waste from the conference. Of course, we said yes!

Once the day's waste was weighed and recorded, it found it's way to the garden's worm farms and compost heap. One hundred people were able to reduce their lunch, morning and afternoon tea waste down to one bucket full. Wrapped in worm and compost friendly bags made from vegetables and not plastic the waste was collected by Cheryl from the garden then the bags were torn up and added with the food scraps, serviettes and green bags to a worm farm and the compost as an experiment to see how long it will take the bags to break down. ​

Marissa from Bindi Bindi Dreaming and Mark from Tucker Bush shared lots of information about indigenous culture, history, using native plants as food, medicine and ointments.

We used all our senses as plants  were  passed around for a closer look. Then the group made up of all ages joined in to plant 20 plants using compost made at the garden in the bottom of each hole. We now have a fantastic collection of Tucker Bush plants for every one to enjoy and use in their diet. Lots to learn about the ways to eat, cook or use these plants as an ointment.

Following the planting, people enjoyed a chat, a sausage sizzle and a tour of the garden. Mark made everyone happy having some extra Tucker Bus plants to purchase and take home to add to their garden.

A big THANKS to Sue for cooking the sausages and all  the other members for their help today. 

Thanks to the City of Mandurah for sponsoring this workshop and for the use of their gazebo which protected us from the rain.

Have you ever  tried a nasturtium sandwich? ​

These nasturtiums are doing their own thing looking so bright and pretty growing at Mandurah Community Gardens.
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​An added bonus is that they have edible leaves and flowers which look great in a salad and have a peppery taste.

The Garden was fortunate to receive a Wishing Well Grant of $1550.06 from the Mandurah Rotary Club. ​This Grant was for Seed Raising, Seedling Shelter and Seed Drying.

How It Helps Continue The Garden Cycle
Using seed raising mix and seeds to start the process, garden members will plant the resulting seedlings into raised beds (which are accessible to volunteers of all abilities). These are then mulched with CCC, watered and fed.

With the shade cloth structures to provide relief from the hot and drying summer heat, the plants thrive, and when the time is right, the crops are harvested, which will then provide healthy, organic food for our members and the local community. Some crops will be dried and some will go to seed with the seeds being dried on the purpose-built drying frames - so nothing is wasted. Then the cycle starts over again... 

Now we will be able to complete the full circle of growing vegetables, herbs and edible flowers at Mandurah Community Gardens.

We used the funds for:

• Potting mix and mulch for seeds and seedlings
• New shade cloth for shade house roof as previous mesh was too dense and didn’t allow enough light in for seedlings to thrive
• Materials to construct shade structures on raised garden beds to protect from harsh summer heat as no shade from trees etc
• Materials to make drying racks so we could dry our seeds for future use and also dry herbs.

Proposed improvements to be done: a BIG THANKS to Mandurah Rotary Districts with their donation of the Rotary Wishing Well Grant to Mandurah Community Gardens.

​Thanks to our members and volunteers for their help and hard work, and thanks also to Ron and Terry for building and installing the frames.

Of course, our thanks to Mandurah Rotary Club was also shared on our Pinterest profile and our Facebook page.