Yarra Sustainability Awards, August 2013

Excellence in Sustainability - Community Action Award

Congratulations Clifton Hill Laneway Garden folk! 

You have been 'Highly Commended' for your digging, growing, composting, weeding, innovative piping methods, and friendly community spirit....Keep it up and thanks to everyone for creating such a lovely garden!

Here are some unofficial photos from Fitzroy Town Hall on the night of the awards ceremony on 22nd August, 2013.

Working Bee February 2013

Had a successful working bee, lunch and compost workshop on February 16th. Did a general clean up of the garden - weeding, clearing out rubbish, resetting steps and bricks - followed by a delicious lunch. Glenda Lindsay, the "Compost Queen" (plus 2012 City of Yarra Citizen of the Year no less), led a compost workshop telling us what should and shouldn't go in, how often to turn the compost (weekly), and how to know when it is ready (should look like soil - not smelly or too lumpy). Enquiries about joining the garden most welcome. There is still gardening space left!

Garden Working Bee - Back in October 2012

In the art garden...

We have been soooo lucky at the garden over the last few weeks to have a wonderful local artist Leila come and beautify our southern fence. We're wondering if the hot weather over the last few weeks inspired Leila to wish that Clifton Hill had its very own beach? Wouldn't it be lovely!

Spring cleaning!

Its. Almost. Spring!!! And to celebrate, the weather is going to be 19 degrees on Saturday, which means its get down to the garden time!! From about 1.30pmish there will be some casual gardening/renovation works going on and everyone is welcome. And being spring-time, maybe its time for you to dust off your tools and build your very own box?

The leaking garden

The garden just isn't allowing itself to be limited by the boundaries of the laneway: it's leaking out into the community.  The first box to break away was reported here, and made plenty of waves.  Now a second box is up, tucked away in Rutland street.

Thomas and Dale with the new planter box
(permit no. YCG-02) 

It's a wicking bed, planted with low maintenance herbs, such as dwarf rosemary, Spanish tarragon, creeping thyme, German camomile, perenial basil and oregano.  An ornamental kale centre piece will provide a bit of variation, along with an Hakawase strawberry; lettuce was planted in between the herbs, to take fill up the space while the perennials are still small.  Mint Corsican was planted in clumps in between, in the hope it will form a living mulch, and we also spread some alfalfa seeds to do the same job whilst everything else gets established.

Freshly planted box

It's not just a planter box for the community, but came from the community.  It was all made possible with the encouragement of locals, and the help from Dale, Neil, Maude, Crina, Barry, Sue and Norm, sponsorship from the Clifton Hill/ Fitroy North Community Bank, and compost made from food scraps from the Quince and Squirrel Cafés.

End view

Wicking bed in construction

Wicked!

A lot of people have asked us folks up at the garden what those weird tubes sticking out of some of our garden beds actually are? The answer is "wicking beds" - the most joyous answer to water-starved guerrilla gardeners this side of the railway line!
In this video the gorgeous Deb (who taught us everything we know about wick beds) gives her lovely explanation of why wicking works, and how you can easily create your own at home or on a nature strip near you.