You may have noticed the Bass Coast Landcare Network River Garden taking shape in the paddock on the Bass Highway between the BCLN office and the Bass River. The River Garden is a trials site for horticultural innovations that can be applied across the region from a household to commercial scale, that will also incorporate a community garden and education facilities. The garden has been conceived as a co-creation with the local community and we would like to invite interested community members to participate.
To date we have planted a ‘water-wise’ orchard on a gentle slope in the north-west corner of the site, a series of swale beds, nuttery and berry trellis with the guidance of horticultural expert Jarrod Ruch, former head ranger at The Briars on the Mornington Peninsula. There is space and the opportunity at the River Garden for much, much more....
At the centre of community involvement will be the community garden, a collaborative growing area in the middle of the site featuring a permaculture style food forest and a variety of organic vegetable beds. We can't wait to involve you in a range of Volunteer sessions and Master Classes to collaborate and learn together, some of the innovative solutions to grow our own, nutrient dense, sustainable food. We also hope to eventually use the commercial kitchen in the Bass hall for cooking and preserving demonstrations with the wonderful produce from the garden.
To date we have planted a ‘water-wise’ orchard on a gentle slope in the north-west corner of the site, a series of swale beds, nuttery and berry trellis with the guidance of horticultural expert Jarrod Ruch, former head ranger at The Briars on the Mornington Peninsula. There is space and the opportunity at the River Garden for much, much more....
At the centre of community involvement will be the community garden, a collaborative growing area in the middle of the site featuring a permaculture style food forest and a variety of organic vegetable beds. We can't wait to involve you in a range of Volunteer sessions and Master Classes to collaborate and learn together, some of the innovative solutions to grow our own, nutrient dense, sustainable food. We also hope to eventually use the commercial kitchen in the Bass hall for cooking and preserving demonstrations with the wonderful produce from the garden.
New volunteer and Master Class Programs
- starting March 2019!!
We are very excited to get our community involved in our new River Garden Volunteer program which will run alongside our River Garden Master Class Days, with the first days in this series to start in March 2019!
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Passata Starter Day!
You are all invited to our 'Passata Starter Day' at the River Garden! We can’t wait to kick off the new River Garden Community Volunteer program with this fun day coming up on Saturday 9th of March (Details in flyer at right). We currently have a glut of tomatoes coming on and as an introduction to our new Volunteer program, we are running a Passata making day along with a guided walk around the garden. There will be an onsite induction for new volunteers and discussion about the program and interests of volunteers that want to be involved. Click here to RSVP online for this 'Passata Starter' introductory volunteer day so we have enough for everyone. |
Volunteer Program Sessions
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Second Saturday of each month
Our regular River Garden Volunteer sessions will run from 9.30am-12.30pm where participants will learn about different methods of growing food by participating in hands on projects to develop different growing areas of the River Garden site. Volunteers will be led through a simple induction process by Landcare staff and be involved in setting up and maintaining new growing spaces on site. In addition volunteers can set up their own growing spaces and be involved in areas of their interest on site. Meet like minded people, learn from each other by doing and contribute to a great community project! Volunteers will also have access to any seasonal gluts of veggies and fruit produced on site. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to register your interest in our Volunteer program. Click below to see our information flyer on this program. |
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Master Class Days
Fourth Saturday of each month
Our Master Class days will bring in the best experts to focus on topics that relate back to the growing spaces being developed by our volunteers. There will be a cost for these days which will include a great lunch, expert speaker, take home notes and an in-depth look at principles and techniques associated with each topic. Adult tickets, concession tickets and a limited number of volunteer labor swap tickets will be available for each of these sessions with numbers capped to ensure thorough immersion in the topic for all participants.
Our Master Class days will bring in the best experts to focus on topics that relate back to the growing spaces being developed by our volunteers. There will be a cost for these days which will include a great lunch, expert speaker, take home notes and an in-depth look at principles and techniques associated with each topic. Adult tickets, concession tickets and a limited number of volunteer labor swap tickets will be available for each of these sessions with numbers capped to ensure thorough immersion in the topic for all participants.
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River Garden Guiding Principles
Community Projects
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Current Projects
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