Welcome to Watermelon & Waves, our Coastal Community Garden Newsletter.
Is this your favourite time of the year? Entering the glorious spring days when we can get back out into our gardens. In the Noongar calendar this is Djilba the first of two springs. Djilba is from August to September. This time of the year we have clear warm days with sporadic wind and rain with an occasional very cold snap. The warmer days bring with them a burst of spring blooms. Many natives blossom at this time of the year with yellow and cream flowers which can be seen in our Acacias. New life can also be heard from the birds and if you’re walking through the bush, you may also spot the young of our reptiles and animals. This is a reminder to be careful as you enter their territory, especially the protective Magpies.
What to expect in this issue:
- What’s Happening in our Garden
- Up and Coming Events
- Gardening Jobs During this Season: August – September
- What to Plant Now: DJULBA SEASON
- GROW & LEARN
What’s Happening at the Patch
Winter is often a time of slowing down in the garden but there has been lots happening behind the scenes. There have been two new pages added to our GROW & LEARN pages, including one on Composting and the other on making Homemade Liquid Fertiliser. There are more grow and learn topics to come. If you have anything you would like us to post please let us know through our Gmail account.
To update you on Stage 1 works, we now have two new large in-ground planting beds, repairs have been made to existing planting beds, along with alterations to the garden landscape for easier access. This sets us up to plant more in the upcoming season.
The City of Stirling has generously provided a grant of $2,000 to the Coastal Community Garden to allow it to fund various administrative expenses, procurement of various garden tools and a range of garden supplies that are essential for our operations. We wish to thank the City of Stirling’s Community Grants Program for its support
With the support of Stuart Aubrey, we have obtained a Small Government Election Grant enabling us to extend the existing pathway from stage 1 planting beds to stage 2 amphitheatre arena which includes a presentation platform. These are exciting developments. Once we’re all set up and we’ve got some warmer, drier weather, we’re looking forward to welcoming guest speakers to our neighbourhood – so keep an eye on the Coastal Community Garden Facebook page, and our website for updates.
We also have a new pergola extending out from shed (shipping container). This will be used to grow edibles over such as grapevines.
Our recent work has also focused on improving access to the gardening area and creating larger beds to produce extra crops so we have more to share around! We also need to install rodent cages to keep crops from being eaten by critters, and ensure the crop remains healthy.
It’s membership renewal time of year, and you can do this easily via our website, with $15 Individual membership and $20 Family membership covering the next year.
If you’re looking to be involved in any way why not come down on one of our gardening days. There is always something needing to be done, especially after all the rain. So if you are available, we would love for you to join us. Keep your eye out on our Facebook page and come on down, meet other members and get involved.
Up and Coming Events:
This is a good time to renew your Coastal Community Garden membership. Good news is that registrations can now be done on our website through a safe payment portal. Alternatively you can contact us via our CCG email (see below in our list of events)
Mark your calendars for these up and coming events:
- Our next AGM is on Thursday 17th September at 6pm – Flowspace 2/103 Flora Terrace, North Beach. Please RSVP by the 8th September to our CCG email: coastalcommunitygarden@gmail.com
- Gardening Days are now the 3rd Sat of the month till we revert to every second week in summer. So this August will be on the 15th. – don’t worry if you don’t have gloves or gardening tools; there are plenty in our shed.
- There is a grafting workshop coming up on the 29-30 August with renowned Richard Pittaway. If you’re interested please see updates on our Facebook page.
We hope to send out a reminder email for these and other events.
Gardening Jobs During Djilba Season:
Learn about what jobs we have suggested for this season on our Seasonal Jobs page which can be accessed through the GROW page.
What to Plant Now:
This too can be accessed through our GROW page, under the heading Grow in Season then look for DJILBA SEASON – AUGUST – SEPTEMBER.
Grow and Learn:
Take a look at our new pages: Composting and homemade Liquid Fertiliser.
I do hope you enjoy reading through these new pages.
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We are hoping to include a calendar of events in our next newsletter. As a part of our gardening family, we would love to hear your thoughts and what you would like to see in our newsletter.
Thank you for being part of our gardening community.
Yours in the garden,
The Coastal Community Garden team
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