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30/11/2009

Community Garden Update 4

The last month has been productive time for our garden project.

The Salad that we have been growing proved to be very popular at the AGM and was gobbled up in no time. Dwaine and Brendan did a great job harvesting and even found some Mushrooms growing under the mulch from the mushroom compost that we had used to fertilize the beds. These were used as part of the toppings for the Pizzas we cooked in the wood fired oven.

Our members have been visiting various Horticultural Therapy Gardens around Melbourne to explore and be inspired on what our grounds could look like. They visited Kevin Heinz Garden Centre, Ilma Lever Garden Centre, The Friends' Sensory Garden at Royal Talbot Rehabilitation centre and Victoria University’s Community Garden. Staff have been recording feedback and observing behaviours in the space to help us understand what would best suit our member’s needs, ultimately this should lead us having the best garden design we can.

We have been very pleased to welcome a new member to our team; Claire Hetzel has taken up the role of Horticultural Therapist and comes with extensive experience in the field. Previously Claire has held the position of Program Leader at the Ilma Lever Garden Centre delivering a Horticultural Therapy program to people with acquired brain injury. She has recently returned from America where she completed studies in Horticultural Therapy and practiced as an intern and extension officer. Her skills have been put to use already and we are all excited about formalising the program in the New Year.

We are still looking for donations of succulents and welcome any enthusiastic volunteers.

Thanks

Ben Neil