Where we are...
We are located in the Gloucester District Park between the tennis courts and the swimming pool.
What are we up to... (February 2023)
We now think of ourselves as in the teenage years - born in March 2021, we spent a year on basic setup and another year developing; now we are consolidating and building on our great start. In that time, we've grown our membership to over 50 and more than 700 followers on our Facebook page. Our space is looking more splendid every week!
We have 10 wicking beds built from 1000l IBC tanks cut in half, which are now mature and producing regular harvests of shallow rooted vegetables such as lettuces and other leafy greens, tomatoes, cabbages and other brassicas, strawberries, allium species such as onions and leeks, and many others depending on the season. People are welcome to harvest our produce - but we ask them to take only as much as they need and leave the plants to grow for others.
We've also planted out our living fence, including our espaliered fruit trees along our eastern boundary and a bed of mostly flowering shrubs along the northern side of the garden. Our first fruit harvest, just one year after planting the fruit trees, consisted of 7 nectarines and 9 figs - all delicious and protected from birds and fruit flies by judicious netting. Of course, we expect much more next year, with apples and pears also on the menu.
We've built a storage shed with attached potting shed. The potting shed is about to get benches and a sink, together with a water tank to collect rain from the roof and provide water to the sink.
We've added gardens of citrus and flowering shrubs to our entry way, with a new pathway provided by Gloucester Landscapes making the entry more beautiful than ever!
We've completed our composting system with help from Tom Power, and have been receiving regular donations of grass clippings (from the swimming pool), coffee grounds (from The Common) and autumn leaves from Council in season. We've just used our first lot of compost on our rebuilt strawberry bed. Many thanks to all our contributors!
We have created a Swap Shop, where people can come and take a plant or some produce and preferably leave something in return. We've been surprised and delighted by how much it's been used by the community. We also have a library - in two sections, one for general books and jigsaws where people may give and take, and one for gardening books which people may borrow (writing their name in the register).
During the winter we put a lot of effort into drainage, as we were finding the site would become boggy every time it rained. This has been a great success as we haven't had a bog for many months despite a few deluges coming our way.
Our two most recent projects are the "Arc de Triomphe" and the storage bays. The Arc de Triomphe has been growing squashes, zucchinis and cucumbers and is now about to be planted with beans and other climbing veggies. The storage bays are designed to take deliveries of soil, compost, mulch, etc, to keep them neat rather than lying around the area. They have been built but are awaiting a coat of paint before being put to use.
What's next...
Once our current projects are finished most of our time will be in maintenance and re-planting. We plan to start running activities for kids, and workshops for gardeners (we've already run a couple of these - refer to the Workshops page). We have a book swap in the making - borrow a gardening book or swap any other book. And what else - who knows? We are open to ideas!
We are located in the Gloucester District Park between the tennis courts and the swimming pool.
What are we up to... (February 2023)
We now think of ourselves as in the teenage years - born in March 2021, we spent a year on basic setup and another year developing; now we are consolidating and building on our great start. In that time, we've grown our membership to over 50 and more than 700 followers on our Facebook page. Our space is looking more splendid every week!
We have 10 wicking beds built from 1000l IBC tanks cut in half, which are now mature and producing regular harvests of shallow rooted vegetables such as lettuces and other leafy greens, tomatoes, cabbages and other brassicas, strawberries, allium species such as onions and leeks, and many others depending on the season. People are welcome to harvest our produce - but we ask them to take only as much as they need and leave the plants to grow for others.
We've also planted out our living fence, including our espaliered fruit trees along our eastern boundary and a bed of mostly flowering shrubs along the northern side of the garden. Our first fruit harvest, just one year after planting the fruit trees, consisted of 7 nectarines and 9 figs - all delicious and protected from birds and fruit flies by judicious netting. Of course, we expect much more next year, with apples and pears also on the menu.
We've built a storage shed with attached potting shed. The potting shed is about to get benches and a sink, together with a water tank to collect rain from the roof and provide water to the sink.
We've added gardens of citrus and flowering shrubs to our entry way, with a new pathway provided by Gloucester Landscapes making the entry more beautiful than ever!
We've completed our composting system with help from Tom Power, and have been receiving regular donations of grass clippings (from the swimming pool), coffee grounds (from The Common) and autumn leaves from Council in season. We've just used our first lot of compost on our rebuilt strawberry bed. Many thanks to all our contributors!
We have created a Swap Shop, where people can come and take a plant or some produce and preferably leave something in return. We've been surprised and delighted by how much it's been used by the community. We also have a library - in two sections, one for general books and jigsaws where people may give and take, and one for gardening books which people may borrow (writing their name in the register).
During the winter we put a lot of effort into drainage, as we were finding the site would become boggy every time it rained. This has been a great success as we haven't had a bog for many months despite a few deluges coming our way.
Our two most recent projects are the "Arc de Triomphe" and the storage bays. The Arc de Triomphe has been growing squashes, zucchinis and cucumbers and is now about to be planted with beans and other climbing veggies. The storage bays are designed to take deliveries of soil, compost, mulch, etc, to keep them neat rather than lying around the area. They have been built but are awaiting a coat of paint before being put to use.
What's next...
Once our current projects are finished most of our time will be in maintenance and re-planting. We plan to start running activities for kids, and workshops for gardeners (we've already run a couple of these - refer to the Workshops page). We have a book swap in the making - borrow a gardening book or swap any other book. And what else - who knows? We are open to ideas!
