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North Perth Community Garden

Rethinking gardens and

community for all to participate

and enjoy

North Perth Community Garden

Rethinking gardens and

community for all to participate

and enjoy

North Perth Community Garden

Rethinking gardens and

community for all to participate

and enjoy

North Perth Community Garden

Rethinking gardens and

community for all to participate

and enjoy

2019 Winter Issue 20

Editors:Emma Vosnacos

Photos: Sophie FarnanLayout: Lesley Fleay cont’d page 2

From the Chair…Another Autumn has passed and first rains are just on the horizon after the second driest May on record. The shades are now rolled back to maximise Winter sun. As always the garden is looking spectacular, all thanks to the time and effort members put into their patch and the garden generally, well done and continue the great work. It always attracts positive comments from the wider community and many people come especially to enjoy the beauty and quiet tranquillity the space affords. We are also the subject of several

student projects from varying backgrounds including social work and nutrition studies they are generally looking at how community gardens enhance health, community and social cohesion.Sunday afternoons are now on Winter times 3pm to 5pm usually a great social crowd there, come and join us for a bit of gardening, a lot of talking and the occasional glass of wine. The individual beds are now fully subscribed, as always general and communal membership is available.Most people have

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Summer Sundownercontinued from page 1

transitioned to their winter crops and there is an abundance of brassicas, alliums and peas coming on – check for our next social event Winter Harvest Celebration - bring a dish with an ingredient you’ve grown, there looks like plenty to create a feast. Read about Pest Management, Pop Up Play, soil testing,

busybees and much more later in this newsletter.The CoV’s Composting Workshop was also very successful after a slight mix up regarding venue which saw a make up event repeated a couple of weeks later. CoV hold these on a regular basis in many venues, if you’ve missed it and want to attend check their website. We also had some

Pop Up PlayThe local children have been very busy next door with their creative endeavours, which have been recently endorsed by the CoV and given some enhancements, all of which seem to have gone down very well. This endorsement is all part of CoV’s response to feedback from last year’s Public Open Space Community Consultation that

identified a lack of facilities for young people in the 10 -18 age group. It is the first of several temporary Pop Up Play spaces that engage local children away from their screens and gets them creatively working and

moderately successful sales of plants at North Perth Primary School’s Mother’s Day stall and Election Day fete.It is a busy time coming up so check out the ‘Dates to Remember’ for our next social event, workshop and AGM. The next busybee is yet to be finalised.Happy gardening and I hope to see you around.

Emma Vosnacosthinking. It is always a joy and a surprise to see what they have built next, a few budding engineers and builders amongst our neighbours. As more children use the space they may need some guidance and reminding

on not picking or damaging NPCG’s produce or infrastructure please gently remind them to be respectful if you see them.

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Pest ManagementA weed is the right plant in the wrong place….The same could be said about many pests, so what to do about them remains a perennial dilemma. At one extreme we could class every plant or animal not planted/ introduced

by us as a pest and eradicate it with chemicals. It would probably work, for a while anyway - until they developed resistance. Such a

strategy would only poison our soil, enter our food chain and cause illness, leaving the garden sterile and devoid of any other life.On the other hand we could work towards a balanced ecosystem by considering what, when and how we plant, the

beneficial creatures we encourage and the way we nurture the whole system in an integrated way. This is the basic philosophy of Integrated Pest

Management (IPM) to which NPCG adheres as explained in the diagram below.IPM assumes:• A desire for prevention rather than intervention• The use of lower risk strategies first• An acceptance of a small ‘Pest Tax’ - you

will lose some produce to pests.In NPCG conventional pesticides are generally not allowed, and pre - approved biorational pesticides can be used in limited quantities, a list can be found in the small shed. We try to encourage predators,

continually improve site design, maintenance and provide information on crop rotations and companion planting. Ask around for trap and barrier recipes,

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Pest Management cont'd

Stall in the North Perth Primary School on Election Day

Dates to RememberWorkshop: Soil Matters… Soil SecretsTime: 2pm Saturday 22nd June 2019Venue: NPCGWinter Harvest CelebrationTime: 3pm Sunday 25th August 2019Venue: NPCGAnnual General Meeting6pm Tuesday 12th November 2019North Perth Bowling Club

there are thousands. On the rare occasion the committee may consider, in conjunction with professional advice, the limited use of conventional pesticides. Members will always be informed prior to any intervention, as happened last year when we put out rat bait boxes and specialised ant bait.I hope this helps people navigate the complex world of pest management, taking our thinking away from the ‘see it spray it’ mantra to a more nuanced holistic way of thinking.

Soil TestingNPCG has had a generous offer from Bronnie Kemp of Atom Earth she work with soils, plant tissue and fertilisers / composts. Her 'portable lab' can identify nutrient deficiencies and imbalances, recommend site specific nutrient blends, as well as identify toxins and heavy metals that have leached in to the soil and may have been taken up by plants. Bronnie has offered to do free testing of NPCG’s site as a project she will write up for her website to showcase the work she

does and what can be achieved. Her initial testing shows some of our fruit trees may be lacking copper. Please say hello to Bronnie if you see her.Bronnie will also be presenting a workshop on how her work can help the home gardener, see below for details.

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BusybeeThank you everyone who turned up for the busybee in May, a good amount of work was achieved.The sorting of the main shed so things are more accessible and cleaning and repairing the pantry cupboard were two big achievements - thanks Annie and crew.  The pond pump is now working again - thanks Paul for all the time you have put into getting it running and Midvale Pond supplies for a discounted replacement pump.You will notice our corrugated sheep/goat

which was kindly donated by Sondra and Nils has now found a permanent home beside the frog pond - we might have to plant some shrubs for him to eat - thanks to Tor and the kids for fixing him to the ground.  We would love some suggestions for a name; Baaarry and Baaaasil are two ideas.A very enjoyable BBQ after, some apples and 2x pineapples were picked and shared, the pineapples were the juiciest and sweetest

ones I’d ever tasted. Four years from the heads being rescued from the compost to them growing and

producing pineapples and they were gone in 4 minutes! Annie made a fantastic pumpkin soup, which was enjoyed by many. I look forward to our ‘Bring a Dish’ event we have so many creative cooks.

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Outdoor SinkThe outdoor sink is now fully installed and functioning fantastically, this is a great addition to our garden, which has been 2 years in the planning. It is Scheme not Bore water so is primarily for filling kettles and washing coffee cups. It drains into the garden bed so only greywater/ plant safe liquids to be poured down it please. The old tap remains behind the sink and is still functional for anything particularly sandy or dirty.There are several people to thank for this; Giulia and Pete who supplied the sink, Bill from Vincent Men’s Shed who constructed its frame, Estelle for oiling it and finally to Tor for plumbing it in.

NPCG’s TrailerMany members may not be aware that NPCG has a trailer that is available for members to hire. If you wish to

make use of it please contact us via the email there is some paperwork to complete and a small hire fee of $10.00, plus a deposit

of $50 refundable upon return of the trailer in the condition it was lent in.

Location: 10 Farmer Street, North PerthPostal: PO Box 448. North Perth 6906Email: northperthcommunitygarden@gmail comWebsite: www.northperthcommnitygarden.org