By Tanya Faulkner
A successful project has inspired future growth possibilities for a local community group.
The Belgrave Food Garden hosted a National Tree Planting Day working bee, planting seedlings into their proposed community food garden.
Approximately 60 locals, a mix of the group’s regular volunteers, new volunteers, and enthusiastic members of the community, attended the event and donated their man-power to the project.
Some of those in attendance included Cr Johanna Skelton and MP for Monbulk Daniela de Martino, and several students, teachers and parents from Mater Christi College, all getting their hands dirty for the cause.
Belgrave Food Garden president Ellie McSheedy said the day couldn’t have been better.
“It was fabulous, the weather was wonderful, the sun was shining and we got a really big turnout
The group was able to purchase 600 edible native plant seedlings from the Southern Dandenong Community Nursery (SDCN) thanks to a National Tree Planting Day grant from Planet Arc.
All 600 seedlings were planted during the working bee, marking the beginning of the new community garden project.
Ms McSheedy said it was really invigorating and positive, to be out there with the community and participating in the day.
“Myself and rest of the Belgrave Food Garden community volunteer a lot of time for the project, and to see such a large and diverse number of people come and were enthusiastic made us feel like they we are on the right track and that this is really beneficial to the Belgrave community,” she said.
The Community Food Garden is the groups’ continual project with a long road ahead, which Ms McSheedy said will be a fantastic addition to the community,
“We will keep working on adding mulch paths and weeding in the area, and adding more edible plants to the space.
“This will be alongside our regular garden projects, where we are now starting to add our summer plants like tomatoes, aubergines and leafy greens, and finding new ways to speed up the growing process in our short growing season.
‘We will also be continuing our workshops and talks throughout the year,” she said.
Ms McSheedy also said they will be reinvigorating one of their more successful programs from last year.
“Our six-part gardening basics course that was sold out in 2022 will be returning in September of this year for the community to learn about gardening in the Hills,” she said.
She said there are plenty of opportunities for the community to get involved with the group, learn more about gardening in our local community, and meet new people.
“We have two working bees each month on the second Sunday from 10am – 12pm and fourth Thursday from 2pm – 3pm of every month for the community to come along and get involved with us.
“People can drop in, stay for however long they would like to help out, learn some new skills and enjoy some social time with our volunteers,” she said.
The Belgrave Food Garden have also been recipients of a community recovering grant, which they will use to install a permanent gazebo at their regular Belgrave site to help make the space more inviting and comfortable for everyone who comes to visit.
Ms McSheedy said this will be a great opportunity for more locals to come along and lend a hand, with more protection from the elements.
“At the moment, we have no cover, so if it’s raining or too hot, we can’t really do anything outside.
“We will be working with a local craftsman to get this done, and we hope to do it in the coming months,” she said.
The Belgrave Food Garden are also recruiting volunteers to help with their administrative and behind the scenes work, to ensure their projects continue to grow in the community.
For more information on upcoming projects, or volunteer opportunities, go to their website
bfg.earth
