Council backs a second garden

Last Tuesday, at the monthly ordinary meeting of council, Hepburn Shire Councillors unanimously voted to go against the recommendation to sell the Albert Street site, and to support the continuation of a community food garden there.

Big thanks to councillor Sebastian Klein, who put the motion forward, and councillor Don Henderson, for speaking so passionately on behalf of our endeavours.

Preparing the potato patch at the last working bee at the Albert Street garden.

Garden blooms, 'decision looms'

More empathetic press in the The Advocate this week.

Please let our councillors know how much the Albert Street community food garden means to us, and how it is fast becoming a hive for social warming and just free food, open to all.

Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen (courtesy of The Advocate)

Write your support of the garden to the following councillors:

Jon Barrell – jbarrell@hepburn.vic.gov.au
Janine Booth – jbooth@hepburn.vic.gov.au
Sebastian Klein – sklein@hepburn.vic.gov.au
Rod May – rmay@hepburn.vic.gov.au
Bill McClenaghan – bmcclenaghan@hepburn.vic.gov.au
Don Henderson – dhenderson@hepburn.vic.gov.au

July bee

A great crowd rocked up to the Albert Street garden yesterday to plant more leaf vegetables and to rotary hoe two new potato beds – thanks Adrian! We were given a small donation by a passerby – thanks Darma – so we walked up to Harvest and bought some organic Bullarto spuds to plant.

We took the rocks we dug up from the ground and began to make a cairn with them at the front of the garden.

We lit a fire to defrost our hands, and shared thermoses of tea and a delicious cake – thanks Alison!

We meet for working bees on the second Saturday of each month from 10am-12. Hope to see you for the next one on August 13.

More warm commentary from Costa

SBS gardening guru Costa opened the Albert Street garden back in early March. After hearing our news of securing Rea Lands Park as a permanent community food garden, and that it looks likely that Albert Street is going to become a permanent site for community food, Costa wrote this:

Yay DCFG. What a fantastic result. Congratulations on your efforts, initiative and vision to bring the issue of local food production/ security to the heart of your town. It is way way bigger than Daylesford now and sets a wonderful benchmark from which others across the nation can now build leverage and action in their respective local patches. I will be using your garden as a wonderful example of local action with global ramifications in my travels and talks. And it all began with a circular garden bed made from some hay bales in a vacant lt of land next to the library, the local school kids, some seedlings and the love and vision of your active locals.....All powers to you...I love it

Costa Georgiadis