Gardening in road gardens
Hi, there, Gardeners
We’ll be gardening this Friday from 9 to 12 noon and some things we’ll do include:
- Auger and aerate the compost bins
- Remove any compost and distribute on gardens
- Put up some contact point signs on the bins
- Transplant a fruit tree that’s not getting enough (six hours) sun
- Put some ‘Pestoil’ that we’ll make ourselves on some fruit trees with bugs
- Talk to Michael Neville, Council’s Waste Officer, about the compost bins in Peace Park and help Michael with anything he needs, such as taking the temperatures of the bins
If its raining we’ll do some seed saving and potting indoors; learn how to grow tomatoes and other plants by using seeds you harvest from your own veggies.
Bring a friend.
Meet at 58 Myrtle and pick up tools at 9 am or find us afterwards in the park or on Myrtle, Pine, Shepherd or Rose streets. Michael Neville often brings gloves for we community gardeners so talk to Michael on the day about that if you want some. If we get time, and you’re interested, I’d also like to discuss things over a cup of tea or coffee such as:
- getting a few more folks involved
- buying food direct from local farmers: check out these folk from whom I buy and for whom I’m a volunteer City Cousin so folks may collect their boxes from my place: sydney.foodconnect.com…
- mulching the mulch heap on the corner of Pine and Myrtle which is now full
- future plantings and ideas for increasing our gardening when spring arrives in September
We tend to focus most on doing and learning instead of meetings – which we tend to have instead as we garden. (When we talk in meetings we’re not gardening, and this is a gardening group.) And we also often garden Saturday mornings, from 10 to 12, too.
Oh, and you may have noticed some native raspberries fruiting on the vines now. Very heartening to see that bright, red inviting fruit but it doesn’t last long as the kids love them and keep on eye on them for picking . . . I’ll show you where if you haven’t yet seen them.
See you,
M
Michael – this looks like another of your very valuable initiatives. But I’m not persuaded yet on safety issues for all roadsides.
Gardeners working beside roads will be ingesting particulates into their lungs while working. The evidence of harm from these just keeps on mounting. Children are especially at risk.
Also, the soils might absorb substances/tiny particles, heated and re-heated through car emissions – which are then taken up into the plants. It doesn’t seem that the advice covers enough of these – or certainly their accumulation and reaction over time. Washing, while obviouly advisable, doesn’t seem to be adequate.
I’d really like to see this initiative succeed. Some guidance as to where and where not to try food plantings would be advisable.