Gardeners are a hardy bunch - rain, hail or shine. Sophie Thomson at our Wicking Bed workshopon Saturday 24th August
The leading photo is from our hugely successful Wicking Bed workshop held in the garden last Saturday and conducted by Sophie Thomson, Horticulturalist, writer, author and South Australian presenter on ABC's Gardening Australia. As our leading photo shows, having the newly erected greenhouse again proved useful as a shelter from the wet weather. It's not what we originally envisaged for the greenhouse but it has worked well for the last two workshops. A huge thank you to our committee members - Kaarin who liaised with Sophie, coordinated the event and made sure all the materials were gathered, Jan who tracked down the all-important IBC and plastic pallet after driving all over the Fleurieu, Rory who cut the IBC in half, trimmed the pallet and provided shelter for the participants, and Sophie, Kaarin, Jan, Jennie who each contributed a cake for the afternoon tea.
Welcome to our new members and Raised Bed holders
Welcome to Bron, Deb, Natasha, Jorien, Tim, Bec, Anne, Jocelyn, Charlie, Taylor, Leanne and their partners and families - great to have you all participating in the garden for the first time. Please let us know if you need help in any way and good gardening to all.
On that topic, we recently discussed at committee how we could communicate better with ways to access compost, mulch, garden soil, worm casting made clearer to members. Expect to see more signs around the garden to that objective. Many of the raised bed holders will be able to access garden soil soon, Pea straw mulch is available now near the shed - please take what you need.
What's Happening around the Market Garden and Edible Natives areas?
Rory has been extremely busy lately, concentrating on developing this area. By the end of November expect to see big changes as a network of paths is created, allowing members, visitors and the public to stroll around this area. The market garden area has been expanded by tilling new beds, more circular beds will be added and planted with natives and native edibles, a grapevine trellis will be added on the western boundary and a lilli pilli hedge will be established on the south and western side. We are presently looking for members who would like to be involved in the ongoing management of these areas and to develop their skills in the art of growing edible natives or vegetables. Please have a chat with anyone on the committee if you would like to get involved and learn more about these highly valued skills.
Thank you to members who have made sure that buckets and containers that might pool water, have been tipped upside down. This will help prevent any nasty bugs from laying eggs and harbouring diseases.
Thank you also to those members who made use of the long handled hoes for weeding, saving themselves from kneeling in the wet ground and looking after their backs. We have several types of hoe available in the garden shed. A favourite is the Dutch hoe which has a stirrup shaped attachment at the business end.
The main pest weed around the beds at present is soursob, known by various names (eg soursop) around the world. It is not indigenous, making its way here from South Africa in the 1800s, but it certainly grows well in a number of places around Australia. It is difficult to eradicate, even with chemicals such as Glyphosate (which we don't use in the garden anyway) as it has underground bulbs. We plan to keep it under control by hoeing and spreading Yankomite on the paths to suppress its growth.Â
You can help here - please hoe around your bed asap (and your neighbour's as well if you're feeling generous), rake up the weeds and put them in the green bin (not into the compost as this could encourage their spread.)Â Â
Change of entry codes to the raised bed area: The entry codes on the north and south gates to the raised bed area will be changed on Monday 9th September. The new codes will be emailed to all members on Monday 2nd September. I suggest you take both codes with you when visiting the garden in case you forget those dates. If neither codes work for you (don't forget the C button first and the Y button last) please let Wayne know via the garden email.
Working Bees coming upÂ
This is a very busy time with Spring officially starting on Sunday 1st September. As the weather warms we will begin to notice more kikuyu and other weeds accelerating their growth.
Tasks to concentrate on -
Weeding - raised bed area, orchard, market garden
Greenhouse shelves assembly (see photo)
Spreading Yankomite in the raised bed area (after weed clearance)
Sanding the replaced pavers in the pergola
Making signs for the garden
Sterilising pots for planting
Planting the Lilli Pilli hedgeÂ
Dates and times (all 10am -2pm)
Saturday 31 August
Sunday 29 September
Sunday 27 October
Saturday 30 NovemberÂ
As in the past, if you can help with a task but are not available on the scheduled days please let a committee person know that you can help at another time.
Workshops for your Calendar
An Introduction to Bee-keeping with Stella
At the Garden on Sunday 29th September - times and costs will be advised soon on Eventbrite.Â
Coming up on Saturday 2nd November at 1.30pm in the Garden. Registration TBA.Â
Sustainable Gardening in Small Places and Containers - Alan Shepard
 For those gardeners who have limited space or are renting - you can still have a productive, colourful and sustainable garden. A focus on vegetable and fruit growing, improving the soil, raised beds and organic growing basics. Alan has extensive experience with bio-diversity and revegetation projects across Adelaide.
Fundraising Bunnings BBQs
Our last Bunnings BBQ on Saturday 18th August was a great success with $1023 profit made. It's always a big contributor to new projects and facilities in the garden and one way we are able to keep our members' costs to reasonable levels. A big thank you to Jan for organising this one and the next two - it's a lot of work for the organiser - and thank you to the team that supported her during the day.Â
Our next Bunnings BBQ will be on Saturday 21st September from 8.30am - 4pm. We usually work in 2 hour shifts.Â
Please get in touch if you are able to assist on the day. This is an easy and fun way to contribute to the facilities in the garden, meet lots of people, and tell our customers about a great community garden.Â
Love to hear from you - please email Jan with BBQ Help on the subject line on the garden email
Driving and Parking cars at the Garden
Please do not drive vehicles on to the garden lease area unless you have express permission from one of the committee to deliver materials or equipment. Please also do not park in the Ambulance/CFS car parks and in Grange and Somerton Courts.
Coming Up in the Garden and Wetlands in 2024
Weeding the paths around the raised beds
Extension of the Market Garden area
Continued development of the Native Edibles area
Maintenance and weeding of our amazing orchard area
Erecting a second shed on the paved area
Fortnightly Friday morning Social Group - next one Friday 30th August
Fundraising Bunnings BBQs - next one Saturday 21st September then every third Saturday in each month up to and including Saturday 21 December
Stella's Intro to Bee-keeping workshop - Sunday 29th September
Mid Coast Sustainibility Inc AGM - November this year
Sustainable Gardening in Small Places and Containers - Alan Shepard Saturday 2nd November 1.30-3.30pm
This project was seeded by
Our Committee
Our committee is Rory Fitzsimons (Chair), Kaarin Wilkinson, Jan Brown, Melissa Styles, Jennie Simon and Wayne Good. If you have any questions or ideas please contact us via Facebook , on our website, on the Seaford Wetlands Gardeners WhatsApp chat or on the garden email seafordcg@gmail.com.
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