Mandurah Community Gardens have been chosen by Grill'd in Mandurah as one of the 3 lucky local community groups to included in the November 2024 round of LOCAL MATTERS. 

​Support Grill'd to help support us and other local community groups.

A big thank you to Grill'd from all of our members, and the community who enjoy Mandurah Community Gardens, for continuing to support us for nearly 10 years with your Local Matters fund raiser.

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.
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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.
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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:

• Sustainability: By reducing food waste and promoting local, organic food production, grow carts contribute to a more sustainable future.
• Community Building: These initiatives foster a sense of connection and cooperation among neighbors, strengthening community bonds.
• Food Access: Grow carts provide a reliable source of fresh, affordable food, especially for those who may have limited access to grocery stores or fresh produce.

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:

• Donate: Simply bring your extra produce to the grow cart at Fraser's Landing Community Centre.
• Take: If you're in need of fresh produce, feel free to help yourself to whatever is available.
• Volunteer: Join our dedicated team of volunteers who help maintain the grow cart and promote its benefits.
• Become a member of Mandurah Community Gardens and help to grow food that can be stocked on the Grow Cart – while having fun and making great friends!

By participating in our grow cart initiative, you're not only helping to reduce food waste but also contributing to a more sustainable and connected community. Let's work together to nourish our community and planet!

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]

While our local government has a mosquito eradication program with spraying, there are measures we can take out ourselves to help reduce mosquitos breeding in the garden and the risk of being bitten:

1. Look for any leaking taps or pipes and fix them so that they don't pool water.
2. Wear gloves whenever you are doing gardening (always recommended).
3. Wear long, loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing, covering as much of the body as you can. Mosquitoes can bite through tight clothes like jeans. Make sure children are also appropriately covered up.
4. Look for water collection points such as pots and turn them over to stop them collecting water.
5. Always apply insect repellent and have some with you for re-application or to share with others. Use insect repellent containing DEET (diethyltoluamide) picaridin or Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE), also known as PMD, and always follow the instructions on the label.

​Spray or roll-on repellents containing 20% DEET will last about 5 hours, whereas sprays containing 7% DEET will provide about 3 hours of protection. 

Here are some take-aways from an email sent to Mandurah Community Gardens from the City of Mandurah:

Mandurah Community Gardens exists because of the work that our volunteers have put in to make it a place to grow food, to make friends, and to raise awareness in our community about growing our own food in good company. It couldn't keep going without the help of so many volunteers who contribute their time and energy, and share their knowledge.
Like most community assets, this community garden is run as a registered non-profit organisation that requires a team of people that work together on the committee to manage it.
Our garden is like any garden - always planning ahead, making decisions and considering the options to take. And of course, making the most of it means enjoying each other's company and having a great time!

Being a member of a community garden is just like any other community organisation. It is not like being a member of a buying club or a library because it is socially orientated and an activity-based kind of membership. It's value to the member is inherently derived from what members individually put into it. 
For the cost of a very inexpensive membership, Mandurah Community Gardens does provide its members with a place that is resplendent with facilities, cheap leasable and free community plots, fertiliser, seeds, tools, amenities, social events and educational workshops, plus much more — everything a good community garden and every individual member needs to keep growing.
We also extend our invitation to the wider community to attend our events, our workshops, and to visit the gardens when we are open.
If you ask every member who volunteers why they volunteer to help, they will tell you that they get so much more from participating in helping with the garden. They know it truly pays wonderful dividends on what they contribute.
Our members strive to keep the costs of running a garden and the cost of membership down, but the only way to achieve this and keep a community garden is to receive funding and donations from individuals, businesses and government. Still, funding isn't anywhere near enough to run a community garden without the personal effort of our volunteers.

As we have advertised through email, our Bulletin newsletter, on Facebook and on this website, we have roles that urgently need to be filled on the committee. We need volunteers for:

• Secretary 
• Treasurer
• Events Coordinator
• Garden Coordinator

All of these roles are vital for Mandurah Community Gardens to function, and for it to continue to exist. Our committee members are currently pulling together to help with these roles, but it places an unfair burden on each of them to do the extra tasks required for each role above what they already do. Ultimately, it is in the best interests of all our members if every member will give their consideration to this and help us however they can. 
All the roles will have training provided and support from our committee members. The average commitment required for most roles is anywhere for 1-2 hours a week and sometimes a bit more for events or workshops. Committee members are required to attend a committee meeting once a month.

The help from volunteers is how we have got this far, and it's how we will continue to keep going and growing.

If you think you can help your community garden by volunteering your time and skills, please contact Jenny or Cheryl via the form on this website.

When summer is here it comes a few things to be aware of in our community garden...

Blue tongue Lizards and snakes

• Blue tongue lizards live and roam in the garden, so look before diving your hand into any garden areas. Several water bowls have been placed around the garden for their use so please top them up when you see them empty.
• So far no snakes have been sighted but be alert for the possibility, make a noise and keep your eyes open!

Pests and disease in your patch

• Unfortunately we have tomato blight, red spider mite and pottery mildew popping up in a few areas. Remember we are organic so any sprays need to be carefully selected before use. Please check with someone before spraying.
• Tomato blight all infected leaves should be removed, BAGGED, and put in the green landfill bin. Red spider mites have infected our papinos but they also can go for peppers, tomatoes, capsicum, beans, corn and strawberries. Remove all infected leaves BAG and put in the green landfill bin or use a non chemical option if the infestation is in its early stage.
• Powdery Mildew is common to zucchinis and can spread to rockmelon, grapes and cucumber so nipping it in the but is needed early. Spraying leaves with milk in their younger stage is recommended, never water leaves only the soil, remove infected leaves immediately and put them in the green landfill bin.
• CLEAN ALL GARDEN TOOLS USED WITH DILUTED BLEACH, VINEGAR OR METHYLATED SPIRITS IN A BUCKET THAT CAN BE USED BY OTHERS PLEASE OR WITH A RAG SOAKED IN THE CLEANER. We have vinegar under the sink in the garden.

Produce was collected from the Garden before the class so everything was wonderfully fresh. Once all the dishes were cooked, we all had a taste and it was delicious.

A big thank you to the the ladies for sharing their cultural dishes with us, we all thoroughly enjoyed the morning. 

These workshops and events that have been running from 2021 until this one in October 2023 would not have been possible without the very kind and generous support of the City of Mandurah. 
The members and committee of Mandurah Community Gardens thank you!

On Friday 17th February, The Hon. David Templeman MLA, a long time supporter and patron of Mandurah Community Gardens, provided a fantastic morning tea for members at Mandurah Community Gardens to celebrate getting a $15,000 grant from Lotterywest.

David, a keen gardener himself with a particular fondness for growing veggies from heirloom (heritage) seeds, kindly paid for the catering from Miss Maud's in Mandurah which was comprised of a delicious selection of their famous club sandwiches and cakes!

David is as excited as all of us to see how the gardens will benefit with the extension of the covered patio area, and the installation of a new kitchen in the common room (the big shed), to built this year.

A big thank you to Lotterywest for helping us with a grant, and to David for providing the occasion to celebrate!

​The event was covered in the local news by The Mandurah Mail and The Coastal Times in print and on their websites.
*Click on the images below to view the articles on their websites

It's official - Mandurah Community Gardens’ 10th anniversary year celebrations have come to an end.

To finish off celebrating our 10th year, we have completed the installation of a water feature, sponsored by Fraser's Landing, as a permanent reminder of our volunteers and supporters who help to sustain our community garden - an achievement we can all be proud of!
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A huge THANKYOU to Michelle and the team at Fraser's Landing for all your support over the years, and for being such a great community partner!

Frasers Landing posted about this on their Facebook Page