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

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. ​

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.

There was capacity attendance for John Draper's workshop "Attracting Beneficial Insects" held last Saturday on the 24th July. Volunteers were kept very busy catering for the visitors with a woodfired pizza & soup lunch. 

As always, Mosaics Month was once again popular with our members and the local community.

Christine Read took the attendees through the creative stages of making a mosaic over 4 workshops held every Saturday in June at Mandurah Community Gardens.

The attendees demonstrated their artist talents with fabulous works of art worthy of a gift shop. Thank you Christine!

​ We are so fortunate to have the generous support of the City of Mandurah - Thank You.

Using historical video and pictures taken by members of Mandurah Community Gardens, we have put together a video montage highlighting (just some of) the many benefits that our organisation provides to the community.

We hope you like it, and we hope it encourages you to get involved in the gardens by joining us or inviting a friend to join. Our community garden is a valuable asset for the local community, providing healthy activities and socialising to be involved in.
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Come down to the gardens where you can grow, learn and enjoy all of the benefits - and it's good for your mental health and wellbeing.

Published on the 97.3 CoastLive website today, Mandurah Community Gardens President Jenny Boivin was interviewed by Marion Print about MCG receiving community gardens funding from the WA State Government.
​See the story below on their website.

Lisa Munday, the local MLA for Dawesville posted on her Facebook page a big congratulations to Mandurah Community Gardens for getting the community gardens funding.

...which was on-shared with his own congratulations by another big supporter of MCG, David Templeman, the local MLA for Mandurah.

​A BIG THANK YOU from everyone at Mandurah Community Gardens goes to Marion Print for covering this story and to Lisa Munday and David Templeman for your fantastic support!

On the Guardian news website, James Wong wrote an article (Sunday 13 June 2021) describing how gardening provides a natural object of meditation that helps create a healthy mind, being a good focus point for mindfulness practice.
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The colour in our life

The thing about gardens, forests, jungles and most living plants is that they tend to be green.

​The colour green in the spectrum of light is the most restful colour we perceive because the eyes at rest don't have to accommodate the focal point of this wavelength as it lands on the retina. For example, the colour red has a focal point slightly behind the retina while the colour blue falls slightly in front of the retina. So with the colour green, the lens of the eye is in a relaxed state when viewing anything in natural green, creating the relaxation response that calms us.

As most of us already know, green and natural green are not the same thing. We can usually distinguish the difference between the green of an artificial plant and a real plant. If we were looking to get an artificial plant, it's subtle green hues would have to be as close to the real thing for us to accept its likeness of a living plant. Alas, it seems that most artificial plants are a poor reproduction of the real thing and look fake - unless you are prepared to pay much more money to get closer to  perfection.

Of course, we know there is more to the garden than just its colour. Our attention is always drawn to the relaxing ambience of a beautiful garden. As we become aware of life growing and living around us, we naturally recognise our own connection with the environment we are in.

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Thriving to be happy 

The community garden is an environment rich in sensory experience. Not only is it a visual experience for us, it also feeds our senses with its sounds, with its many scents, with the experience of touch, and the presence of others around us. It is not so much as about being occupied, or working and keeping busy, but the garden provides us with it's true value by giving us a place to be present, in a productive environment, letting us enjoy the experience of being alive.

We see the garden as a living, transient thing, as an extension of our existence. It is this feeling of harmony with our environment that heals us, and this is because maintaining a healthy garden is akin to maintaining a healthy mind. This cycle of benefit works to bring us contentment from both directions:

1. A healthy mind makes conditions ripe for a healthy body and when we eat the food of this garden is, we absorb the positive fruits of our efforts. We then integrate this into the cycle of a healthy life.
2. And, having a sustained body also means that conditions are ripe for the formant of a happy and healthy mind.

What we grow together, we know together.

In essence, gardening is a meditation in practice. When we reinforce this practice by gardening together, the social aspect of our human nature is supported, helping us to maintain a natural bond with others in our community. 
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As promoted on Facebook, these popular outdoor signs are printed on high quality composite sheet. Informative and a great feature to have for parks, gardens and school grounds.

​Available to order from Mandurah Community Gardens. Please send email enquiries to Cheryl - info@mandurahcommunitygardens.com.au

Mandurah Community Gardens is getting a makeover of the community plot area and new pathways being laid soon. To make way for this, the reticulation needed to be moved to allow easy access to the solenoids. While doing this, other maintenance and repairs were made on the reticulation as well. This work has been possible with the help of generous donations, and through the time and effort given by volunteers to get the job done. A new solenoid housing was made by Brian and he moved and connected it up - great work..thank you!

With COVID-19 restrictions being eased, we're all now out in the garden and getting busy - and isn't it wonderful!

With the changes brought on by the COVID crisis, it hasn't deterred us. Instead, the members have used the time-out to reflect on what we needed to do to improve things around the garden. The MCG committee members toiled over many ideas at many meetings both online and at the gardens to make the garden a welcoming sanctuary for members and visitors alike. The enthusiasm  and efforts made are a credit to every member involved.

So, what has been happening?

Mandurah Community Gardens has connected up with many knowledgeable and helpful people and organisations in the Peel area.

We have been helped and supported by Community Development Officer, Thomas Wood, from the CIty of Mandurah who has come up with many great ideas and advice for the gardens to integrate with the wider community. This is an ongoing project with new links to our community being established and maintained.

Mandurah Community Gardens received a visit from Zac Kirkup MLA Dawesville and Liberal candidate for Mandurah, Ryan Burns, who were introduced to the gardens by members. They showed great interest and enthusiasm for what the gardens provides to the community and have offered their ongoing support. Ryan followed up by organising a generous donation of carpet off-cuts for controlling the winter weeds. Later in the month, committee members met with Amanda Burton at Zac Kirkup's office to discuss sources of funding, namely Containers For Cash, and community involvement ideas. It was an invaluable and constructive meeting that has given Mandurah Community Gardens many avenues to explore and utilise. 

We have some big cost projects coming up, particularly with redevelopment of the Communal Garden area, garden paths, maintenance of older plots ,reticulation overhaul, and security of the grounds.

WORKSHOPS
Our workshops are back on again, starting on 5th September with a series of handy gardening topics hosted by our long-time contributor Chris Lampard. Chris will be teaching us about growing from seeds, composting and preparing the garden for summer. Always popular workshops, everyone is looking forward to seeing Chris again.

If you live in the Peel region and haven't been to the gardens at all, or in a while, feel free to drop by and look around!
Mandurah Community Gardens is a great place to meet people, have a chat and to feel the serenity! 

Thank you Thank you Thank you
posted on Facebook to celebrate National Volunteers Week