A working bee at Sunbury Neighbourhood House has helped redevelop the front garden to produce food for the community.
The social gardening group meets monthly on the morning of the third Saturday of the month to work on the garden, which now includes a bush tucker garden.
Neighborhood house community development coordinator Cathy Grose said while the garden is still a work in progress, the structure is now in place.
“The group has recently been planting new productive trees and other plants to add to the existing plantings,” Ms Grose said.
“Productive raised wicking beds have been in place for about eight years and are regularly replanted as produce is harvested.
“Pernaperna women’s group [has also] been developing one area of the garden into a bush tucker garden, including edible native plants and plants indigenous to this area.
“This will help with the biodiversity of the garden and encourage beneficial insects and pollinators.”
Ms Grose said the garden is a great place to develop social connections and share skills, as all input is valuable to the overall success of the garden.
“All skill sets are welcome as there are always a range of tasks that need to be done,” she said.
“The garden has become a great place for conversations … a number of people are showing interest in the progress and wandering through to have a look, which we love to see.
“We have also been enjoying sampling the olive oil from 14 kilograms of fruit harvested in May from our three olive trees.
“The fruit went to CERES to become olive oil as part of their Olive to Oil community festival.”
Zoe Moffatt
