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
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. Read below for more details.
Our recent Passata Starter Day held in March 2019 had a small but interested group of new volunteers help process a glut of tomatoes into beautiful sauce. Onsite inductions were given and volunteer forms filled out and discussions held on interests of those involved.
Now that the bounty of veggies and fruit from summer growing is nearly all harvested, we are preparing to go into basic maintenance mode over autumn and winter and have a small volunteer opportunity for you....read on below.
Our recent Passata Starter Day held in March 2019 had a small but interested group of new volunteers help process a glut of tomatoes into beautiful sauce. Onsite inductions were given and volunteer forms filled out and discussions held on interests of those involved.
Now that the bounty of veggies and fruit from summer growing is nearly all harvested, we are preparing to go into basic maintenance mode over autumn and winter and have a small volunteer opportunity for you....read on below.
Volunteer Program Sessions
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Autumn - Winter volunteer program opportunity
Second Wednesday of the Month 9-11 am starting May 2019. Due to limitations in funding, resources and staffing, we have changed the dates and timing of our advertised volunteer sessions. Now interested Volunteers have the opportunity to come along for a couple of hours on the second Wednesday of the month, where general maintenance activities will be conducted with limited supervision from Landcare staff. A Community Corrections Crew will be working on the same day from around 10.30 so the idea is to get our community volunteers in first before the Crew arrives. Volunteers will be led through a simple induction process on their first visit with a Landcare staff member and will be involved in maintaining growing spaces on site. If we can access more resources and support for the River Garden, volunteers will be able to set up new 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. A downloadable version of this information in a flyer can be found on this page. If this sounds like something you want to be involved in please scroll down to the bottom of the page to register your interest in this Volunteer program. |
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Master Class Days
Fourth Saturday of each month - Starting Spring 2019
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. Watch this space for details as they are confirmed!!!!!!
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. Watch this space for details as they are confirmed!!!!!!
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River Garden Guiding Principles
Community Projects
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Current Projects
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