Saturday and Sunday 7 and 8 September 2019

Grow your own – food metres not kilometres

All the information to plan your garden visits

A great collection of eleven edible gardens will be open to the public on the weekend of 7 and 8 September 2019 as part of the Kyneton Daffodil and Arts Festival. Visiting some or all of these gardens is a great way to learn and get motivated for our new growing season.

Three schools are participating for the first time this year: Taradale Primary School (Stephanie Alexander garden), Macedon Primary School and Our Lady of the Rosary Primary. Their students are experiencing the joy of growing their own food and eating it too.

Some gardens have been showing each year such as the popular garden of Jan and Doug McIver. You can ask Jan anything about gardening – she can demonstrate many sustainable ways of using local resources for example the importance of hugelkultur in keeping moisture and nutrients in the soil. We call her the “Raspberry Queen” as she has a substantial patch of raspberries and is happy to give away raspberries and plants to everyone especially at the community produce swap held by the Kyneton Transition Hub at the Kyneton Farmers’ Market.

The Kyneton Edible Garden is in the grounds of the Kyneton Community House and its produce is used for the Community Lunches every Wednesday during school terms at the Kyneton Mechanics Institute.  Just $5 donation for a yummy local two course meal with great company as well.

There are new gardens such as Zen’s memorial garden, which is named after a much loved family member. The garden has grown up since the 1980s with the Upper Coliban Reservoir as a backdrop. It includes farm animals, an orchard and much more.

Ken and Moira Hourigan will open their large garden where vegetables flourish amongst the ornamentals and obviously enjoy their company. Seeds and cuttings for edible plants are nearly all obtained from neighbours, family and friends.

Lyn Godfrey is demonstrating her very small edible garden and has great ideas for those who don’t have a lot of room.

Nea Gyorffy, organiser says “We encourage visitors to learn and exchange ideas about growing sustainable, organic edible plants. Working edible gardens are not necessarily pretty but are all about maintaining productive, rich soil, producing fresh food without using chemicals and reducing the cost of food but not compromising quality…and enjoying a healthy lifestyle.”

Visiting Open Edible Gardens helps you find inspiration to get out there and grow your own food – be it in a large vegetable garden or orchard, in a small garden or grow them amongst the ornamentals. It is a great way to help you learn how to improve your soil, ways of water saving, composting, companion planting, Hugelkultur, wicking beds and more.

Growing your own food is now more important than ever for freshness, knowing its origin and keeping low food miles. Nea says “It is incredibly satisfying when you can step out your door and pluck a juicy eggplant or zucchini from the garden and prepare it for your meal.”

The two Taradale gardeners Jane and Colleen have formed a local produce exchange which helps gardeners swap excess edibles and is great for those looking for local, fresh food.

Bunjil Farm is introducing a market garden this year so you can see how the garden is being planned and managed from the beginning.

All information about the times and locations is on the Kyneton Daffodil and Arts Festival and KTH brochures which are in many local shops now, and the Kyneton Mechanics Institute, the official information centre during the Festival. More information at Kyneton Daffodil Festival Website, Kyneton Transition Hub Website and both facebook pages. Or download your own brochure below.

(Please note our original post had some incorrect times for gardening openings but this is now the corrected version).

Detailed times and addresses below (right click to open in new tab).

If you prefer a pdf version, please open here: Open Edible Gardens 2019 DL_FINAL

This year we’re offering a whole weekend of edible gardens for you to visit. That means you can see more gardens and spread it over a weekend if you prefer.

More details to follow shortly.

Eight keen gardeners from Kyneton and surrounds are opening their edible gardens to show others how sustaining and life affirming an edible garden can be. It’s also about learning practical, inexpensive ways of replenishing the soil, water management and methods of weed and pest control using natural, chemical free methods.

Edible gardens give us access to fresh wholesome foods grown for taste not transportation and to achieve low food miles and food security.

You can find out where these gardens are and opening times in a Kyneton Transition Hub brochure or the Kyneton Daffodil and Arts Festival brochure which are available at Aesop’s Attic Bookshop, various shops and the Kyneton Mechanics Institute which is the official information centre for the Festival.

Please note that this Open Edible Garden Day is on one day only Sunday 3 September 2017 (Father’s Day), and not Saturday 2 Sept as advertised in the Kyneton Daffodil and Arts Festival brochure.

The Open Edible Garden Day gives locals a great opportunity to see what others are doing in our community.

The Open Edible gardens will demonstrate edible gardens in progress from vegetables to fruit and nut trees, herbs, companion plants, bird and insect attracting. You will find new ways of improving soil, worm farms, composting, compost tea, wicking beds, Hugelkultur, irrigation and more.  Nea Gyorffy, organiser, says “We want visitors to go away thinking ‘I can do that!’”.

The Community Garden at the Kyneton Secondary College and Malmsbury Primary School garden will demonstrate what the school and community can achieve together. A verge garden in Malmsbury demonstrates how to transform a dry grassy slope into a hardy and attractive edible garden.

More information at Kyneton Daffodil & Arts Festival website or facebook page; or Kyneton Transition Hub facebook page.

Kyneton Transition Hub is a part of the international transition town movement and is concerned with sustainability issues in a broad sense. Our special focus is on building strong and resilient communities in a future of peak oil and climate change. Our vision for the Macedon Ranges region includes initiatives to make our region more resilient and sustainable and also ways to contribute to a more resilient and sustainable world.

For these reasons we make the following comments regarding the draft Climate Change Action Plan:

• The targets fall far short of what is required to contribute a fair share in addressing climate change. For Australia (and the world) to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 is too little, too late to avoid catastrophic effects; to take that as our target when we are a relatively wealthy part of the world is far too little. We should be aiming for 50% reduction in the life of the current council (2020), and neutrality during the subsequent council (2024). This will be aided by quickly advancing technologies (e.g., battery storage) but should also be a budget priority.
• The council should take responsibility for their overall impact on climate not just those things that are measurable. For example, actions on green power and waste should not sidelined as they are not happening in our back yard or not measured as the council’s direct impact. Green power should be the norm and waste issues need to be addressed as if we owned the land fill sites. The council’s attitude to this is a little like the sailor who is happy that the leak is in the other end of the boat.
• Divestment from fossil fuel and other unsustainable industries should not be something we consider or plan for the future. It should be something we undertake immediately and finalise within the life of the current council. Again, we’re in that leaky boat.
• We support the move to invest in renewable energy for council owned buildings but would prefer much quicker progress, especially as when the payback period is over there are continuing savings in both money and carbon.
• There are many community-owned buildings in the region, and council should encourage and facilitate their installation of solar PV. Council should also encourage and support community-owned renewable energy initiatives like the solar and wind farms in Woodend.
• Urban agriculture should be encouraged through edible trees on nature strips, a clear and positive nature strip garden policy, support for community and neighbourhood gardens, and encouraging edible gardens on under-utilised council land and open spaces. It may be difficult to measure the carbon impact of these initiatives however that does not mean they should be overlooked.
• Support for local agriculture that recognises its role in carbon reduction and sequestering. Encourage and support proactive initiatives such as soil enrichment, regeneration and the use of biochar.
• Resilience and sustainability can only be achieved if equitable solutions are sought. This relates to food security issues, homelessness and access to housing. Council should work with other groups to help secure equitable outcomes for all.
• Work with local communities and community groups to preserve and enhance our local parks, botanic gardens and nature reserves.
• Bring sustainability issues to the fore in all council decision-making. This may require a sustainability reference group that includes community members and experts to ensure sustainable outcomes. [For example, we recently became aware that a cleaning tender which has until recently been undertaken by locals now requires $50,000 bond. This rules out most small local businesses and ensures the work will now be done by larger corporates based in Melbourne and possibly sending staff from elsewhere. If environmental impacts had been fully considered the bond was unlikely to be approved.]
• Enhance council decisions by embedding community consultation into the processes. This is likely to be some form of deliberative democracy such as citizens juries.

This is only a brief outline of our key concerns. We would be happy to discuss this in more detail as the climate change action plan takes shape.

Thursday 11th May – 1 to 3 pm

Come for the whole session or just a while.

No sewing experience needed – lots of fun jobs – sewing machines, scissors, etc. available or bring your own. Kids welcome.

BUPA Boomerang Bag sewing bees will be on every second Thursday of the month.

Do you find it hard to remember to take your reusable bags when you go shopping? There’s a solution on its way and it’s coming from the Kyneton community supported by Kyneton Transition Hub and Kyneton Community & Learning Centre.

An enthusiastic group of locals is organising sewing bees to deliver community made and shared reusable cloth bags where you need them most. This is part of the Boomerang Bag initiative started by two young women on the Gold Coast in 2013 which is now expanding around Australia and overseas. Its aim is to reduce plastic bag use and protect ocean life. For more information on the Boomerang Bag movement check out their website.

The bags are made from donated fabric and upcycled clothing and linen. Donations of fabric and linen are already coming in, and if you have a sewing machine, iron, overlocker or other sewing equipment you no longer want the group would love to hear from you.

The first sewing bee is on Thursday 4^th May at the Kyneton Community & Learning Centre (KCLC) from 9.30 am to 3 pm. Come for the whole day or just a while. Sewing machines, scissors, etc. are available or bring your own. No sewing experience is needed and there are lots of fun jobs including cutting fabric, ironing, pinning and screen printing. Kids are welcome.

Regular sewing bees will also be hosted by BUPA and RM Begg to make even more connections in the community. Monthly weekend sessions are also available.

Schedule for May:
Thursday 4^th May – 9.30 to 3 pm – KCLC
Thursday 11^th May – 1 to 3 pm – BUPA (and then every second Thursday of the month)
Thursday 18^th May – 9.30 to 12 noon – RM Begg (and then every third Thursday of the month)
Sunday 21^st May – 1 to 4 pm – KCLC
Wednesday 24^th May – 9.30 am to 3 pm – KCLC

If these days don’t suit please contact the group as sewing bees will be scheduled to suit everyone and further partnerships with schools and other community groups will be welcome.

For more information find us on Facebook, email Kynetonboomerangbags@gmail.com or call KCLC on 5422 3433.

March Produce Swap matched February’s with great variety, quantity and quality of produce. The chats with locals and visitors were also a lot of fun.

This Saturday’s April market may be the last of the big ones before our seasonal slow down starts. Remember we also do swaps of egg cartons, seedlings, seeds and cuttings.

Bring your produce along on the second Saturday of the month to the Kyneton Farmers’ Market or just drop in for a chat about what’s going on around Kyneton and especially in our gardens.

We have enthusiastic members on the Boomerang Bags steering group to do the organising. This makes the load fairly light, but we would love to have some more people on board to further lighten the load and to spread the word further.

Next meeting of steering group is on Wednesday 29th March at 7 pm at the Kyneton Community & Learning Centre.

First sewing bee is scheduled for early May to allow us to get past school holidays and get everything organised.