First Draft Complete

Hi everyone,
Just letting you know I have completed our first draft concept plan! Yay, very excited. But very much our first draft, so keen to meet when everyone is free.
Lisa

Mud Map of Our Garden

Hi everyone,

Inspired by today's visit, attached is a 'mud map' of our proposed design. This accompanies the plot layout shown previously. If everyone is happy I will draft it into a design later this week.

Lisa

The first draft of the garden design

I have uploaded Lisa's "ugly stage" layout... just click on the image to see it in real size. If you are able to it would help to leave your comments and suggestions in the comment area of this posting ... it just saves on lots of emails in our inboxes.

Thanks so much Lisa for your work on this.

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As promised I am posting some of the photos Noah and I took at the Marrickville West Community Garden a couple of weekends ago. One thing the organisers said to us was that it is CRUCIAL to get the size of the garden plots right from the very beginning - our very success depends on it!! They think theirs are too small... I'd say most are about 1x2m. The community garden in Ringwood, Vic is very big - it has over 100 plots (10m x 3m), a shed and a greenhouse on the 1.5 acres (0.6 hectare).   So plot size should probably be top-most in your minds when you look at Lisa's design.

This photo shows that Marrickville has a cyclone wire fence like the one we will probably get but it doesn't look like a concentration camp thanks to vines (passionfruit) and planting underneath. Also, they have a nice crop of peas coming on :)

An example of some wooden raised garden beds. Note the paths are simply covered in wood mulch.

One of the semi-circular communal garden beds. This one is located right next to the BBQ area.

They had a very good system on putting updated signs on each of the compost bins. We need these!

A general shot of the garden with hardworking Marackville gardener in the foreground and young, practically no-use-at-all-in-the-garden Niamh in the background :)

Noah and I are going to the Randwick Organic Community Garden working bee this Sunday (September 20) from 4pm to 6pm. If anyone else wants to come along (and Lisa has already said she will!) let us know so that I can write and let them know how many of us to expect. From our Marrickville experience I can tell you that it is worth the trip - it's fantastic to see what other gardens are doing and you come away very inspired.

Randwick Community Garden can be found at the northern end of Paine Reserve. It is a 1080 square metre fenced area that has combined community garden areas with allotments. Members aim to use organic principles, including natural pest and disease management, use of organic seeds and natural fertilisers.

"Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw." - Henry David Thoreau

Hey guys, back from an amazing ski trip ready to burn the midnight candle on this one. Gr8 work Lynne.

Great work Lynne. Site looks fantastic. Can't wait to hear about the road trip

New things and updates

As you can see I've done a bit of work on the blog to get it looking a bit more spiffy. I've customised the layout so that I can include more nifty gadets on the right hand side ... like the flickr slideshow of photos from community gardens around the world. And the weather module. And the calender. And the rss feeds from the Australian Community Gardens website.

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Noah and I took the girls to see the West Marrickville Public School Community Garden this afternoon and it was VERY interesting. We made some great contacts and ran into some very nice ladies from the Randwick Community Garden as well. A full report on what we saw and what we heard later.

Here is photographic evidence and a taste of the goodness to come :)

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Flickr is full of great photos of communit gardens. I found this stream from MontanaRaven, complete with a very good plan of their garden design. It might help give you some ideas Lisa??

Other Flickr community gardens are here.

"Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration." Lou Erikson

29.8.09 Meeting minutes

Norton Rd Community Garden North Ryde
Meeting No 1
Date 29th August 2009
Present: Lynne Hughes (LH), Noah Schuyler (NS), Beth Ashcroft (BA), Lisa Shaw (LS), Karen Belcher (KB), Jenny Grace-Smith (JGS), Peter Smith (PS)
Apologies: Linda Bellen
ITEM ACTION
1.0 Garden Design
The following was discussed as being in the communal area:
Herb Spirals
BBQ area with shelter and seating
Circular seating area for workshops (may be incorporated into BBQ seating area)
Kids Corner
Compost
Worm Farm
Shed for tools
Plant propagation area/greenhouse
Storage for hard landscaping materials and mulch etc
Possible areas for bees


LS
Individual Plots
LS showed rough sketch of circular design. All agreed this was really effective and a good use of space. Herb spirals in the middle of each “circle” gave a communal feel to each area.
Plot sizes – 7 sq.m. (roughly 3.5 x 2 m)
Further discussion needed to smaller plots for pensioners and individuals.
Higher plots for people with back problems

LS
Other considerations for design
Organic/permaculture principles
No dig
Weed control
Wind breaks
Paths
Orchard and Olives
Green manure crops
Irrigation
Rainwater tanks
Fencing design to deter possums
Grape vines
Mushrooms

LS
Visits to other gardens
Need to be organised – to discuss garden organization, design etc . LH speaking to Randwick garden to organize visit
(could also discuss Chickens, ducks or geese etc and how they have found having them in the garden). LH

2.0 Membership
Fees for general membership and to be on waiting list
Annual Plot fees
Contributions to working bees essential for membership Note
For more discussion

3.0 Discussion with Council
Height of fencing
Electricity – connection and cost
Water (2 taps) – connection and cost
Toilet – where is it
Public liability Insurance
OH & S Policies – does council have any templates we can use
Relocation of memorial fig LH

4.0 TAFE
LS to talk to Horticulture dept re: design and construction
KB to talk to Hospitality Dept re: Student involvement
LS
KB

5.0 Name of Garden
General consensus for “Norton Rd Community Garden”
KB to talk to son Matt or sister Robyn re: logo KB

6.0 Statement of Purpose - DRAFT
To provide a sense of community within the City of Ryde. To promote the sharing of knowledge, skills and creativity. To care for the environment and to give purpose to an unused green space.
For further discussion

7.0 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES – DRAFT
To encourage biodiversity
To be sustainable and to apply permaculture principles
No use of chemicals
To be self funded
To be involved in educating the local community
To develop strong partnerships within the community
Famers markets
Involve local art groups
For further discussion

8.0 Internal communication
Blog to be started for members to post comments
Posting of minutes of meeting on blog LH/JGS

9.0 Program
Design – completed 23rd September
Meeting with Macquarie Hospital and Council – 25th Sept (TBC)
Policies and Procedures formalized (End Oct)
LS
LH
ALL

10.0 Next Meeting
Confirm design
Formalise Purpose and Objectives
Code of conduct
Decision making process
Grievance procedures
Marketing and funding
OH&S
Discuss resolutions from Council/ Macquarie Hospital Meeting

11.0 Next meeting
TBC