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By Paul Hammond & Cheryl Ivey  The Grow Cart Project This is a collaboration between Frasers Property, the City of Mandurah, the Mandurah Mens’ Shed, and Mandurah Community Garden. Located in front of the Community Centre on Landings Blvd, the Grow Cart is a place for everyone to share surplus produce like fruit, veggies, seeds etc with the community. The Mandurah Community Gardens team are the managing the cart, ensuring it thrives and provides a benefit to everyone in the community. The launch of the project was at a BBQ held at the Frasers Landing community centre on September 15 2024, with Mandurah Community Gardens represented by committee member Cheryl Ivey.  What is a Grow Cart? A grow cart is a simple, yet ingenious concept that's gaining momentum in Australian communities. It's essentially a public space where people can share their surplus garden produce. This initiative promotes sustainability, fosters community spirit, and ensures everyone has access to fresh, healthy food. How Did Grow Carts Start? The origins of grow carts in Australia is that they likely emerged from the country's thriving community gardening and food sharing movements. As people started cultivating their own food, they often found themselves with more produce than they could consume. To avoid waste and share their bounty, they began leaving extra veggies and fruits in designated areas for others to take. Over time, the idea of using a dedicated cart or container to centralize this sharing evolved. This made it easier for people to find and contribute to the community's food supply. Why Grow Carts Are Gaining Popularity The popularity of grow carts can be due to many factors:
Grow Carts: A Simple Yet Powerful Solution Grow carts are a testament to the power of community and the positive impact that small actions can have. They offer a practical and sustainable solution to food waste and food insecurity, while also fostering a stronger sense of community. As Australia continues to embrace sustainable practices, grow carts are poised to play an increasingly important role in our food systems.  Mandurah's Grow Cart: A Community Gem Mandurah Community Garden is proud to be a part of the growing community grow cart movement. In partnership with the City of Mandurah, we maintain a grow cart at the local Fraser's Landing Community Centre with healthy organically grown food donated from our communal garden, by members, and donations from private gardens in the local community. Our grow cart serves as a vibrant hub for food sharing and community engagement. Here, residents can drop off their surplus garden produce, knowing it will find a good home. Whether it's tomatoes, zucchini, herbs, or other fresh goodies, all donations are gratefully received. How to Get Involved:
The Grow Cart is located at The Frasers Landing Community Centre A community hub for art groups, craft, mosaics, photography clubs, social ukulele classes, nature groups and more. Visit the Frasers Landing Frasers Landing community noticeboard for more details. For more information about the Grow Cart, contact [email protected]
Real Activity, In a Real Environment, In a Real Social Setting.
 I LOVE Bamboo. Yes, the best stuff will grow runners and spread quickly, however, it's also great for homemade garden stakes, making trellis and lots of other crafty projects. It also looks good.
I happened to mention this to my new neighbour who "found" a piece of bamboo for me to grow as a screen along my fence. It's the type of bamboo that grows very tall and produces bamboo about 1 inch thick. PERFECT! Bamboo needs a trench 40cm deep, that is full of good soil, and no obstacles such as roots that will hinder the growing path. Problem 1. I have a half dead tree right in the spot where I want to grow the bamboo. Son number 2 removed all the branches leaving me with a huge pile to get rid of. How to get rid of the mess? Son number 2 came to the rescue by giving me his mulcher. It's the same electric mulcher that was mentioned in earlier emails. The same as the one my other neighbour loaned me when we removed the trees from the front yard. I am in love with it. Son number 2 said he considered it as a fair exchange for all the food he will get later. How good is that? Problem 2. I removed several concrete slabs and started digging before discovering just how many roots were hindering my bamboo garden bed. Some are huge. and I had barely scratched the surface - reaching 40cm of root free soil was looking impossible. I also still had large branches left over - too big for my mulcher. I needed a chainsaw but I don't want one. They are too heavy for me, too expensive to buy and too expensive to run. A small bottle of chainsaw oil costs about $17, and you need lots of it. Then I would need to buy the tools to sharpen it etc. Plan 2 - I discovered that there exists an electric hand held cutting tool that is perfect for all the cutting jobs around the garden. It's called a Reciprocating Saw. After doing my homework and reading the reviews I found one for $70 at Bunnings. It's the XU1 710W Reciprocating Saw. - Yea Yea - you probably all know about these things but this was news for me. Enter my beloved Mother who has offered to buy this for me. I will be picking it up today! How exciting! All those tough branches and roots here I come! Problem 3. I now have a small pile of concrete slabs that need to be relocated. You guessed it - the spot where I want them is overgrown and will take me days of digging and probably some help to move them. I can move one about 4 feet before I need to sit and breathe. If that damned bamboo dies I will SCREAM! LOL! A story from a very happy gardener. Lana  The garden is known to form a strong impression in our minds. That could be a good reason why gardens are considered so good for our mental health. With this in mind, we thought we might share something with you that we hope you find enjoyable to look at. Google Arts and Culture in collaboration with cultural institutions in the UK have put together this amazing collection of digital stories about gardens as an online exhibit.
While in the COVID19 emergency, MCG's secretary Cheryl got to work with creating this tool holder board for her garden.
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