February working bee in pics

Hello and welcome to the photo documentation of our recent working bee at the Albert St garden. A huge grazie to Mara Ripani for taking these photos that so beautifully capture the people and energy of the unseasonably cold summer's day.

A small offering of beauty and decay:

John dead heads the older plants and lays them down as mulch.

Jacques and Natalia gather fallen apples.

Kirsten and Meg discuss apple cider vinegar recipes.

In quiet praise of the apple trees.

Rosa weeds.

Tom sings up the world.

Oscar looks for Zero.

Together we work, and honour the soil and seasons and strength of our collective efforts.

Mara took a whole heap of the fallen apples we collected and kindly dropped them off to the Jonai Farm pigs to enjoy. The rest were composted on site to help make new soil to feed back to the trees.

Did you know community gardener Patrick Jones planted the apple trees outside the library 20 years ago? To celebrate, we are planning a celebration of community food and honouring of the apple trees. Stay tuned for more details..

See you all at the next working bee on Saturday March 9.

May Bee, Baby...

What does community resilience look like on a wet autumn day?

It looks like Mara's enthusiasm for being a participant in life.

It looks like Patrick's drive to make organic food accessible for everyone.

It looks like Woody's wanting to create the world he wants to live in now and when he's older.

It looks like Meg celebrating all that is free in the world.

It looks like Cam encouraging his sons Otto and Rennie to be gift makers in the community that supports them, and Joseph (left) distributing broad beans for future meals.

It looks like a healthy being like Zero, (who has never eaten food from a packet or can).

It looks like Ian, in his 70s, who has come along to share his elder wisdom with us all.

It looks like non-monetised gifts shared from Mara's home garden.

It looks like a place of learning, participation, sharing and belonging.

It looks like a place of quiet contemplation, where everyone is welcomed and accepted.

It looks like a place where skills are shared.

It looks like Kirsten's home grown seeds + seedlings that were loved into being and will continue to spread love in the world.

It looks like an artwork where creativity is expressed and hopes for the future will sprout.

Pruning workshop with Ian Clarke (June working bee)

25 of us gathered at the library apples to attend a pruning workshop lead by Ian Clarke.

Ian has 55 years experience as an orchardist, and the last 20 years as a biodynamic fruit tree expert.

He showed us his method of bevelling larger pruning cuts, which reduces the surface area and speeds up the healing over process.

With each tree we were asked to examine the branches to remove. It was technical work and many of us felt overwhelmed by the matrix of possibilities.

On apples and pears the best fruit comes from the second and third year fruiting buds, which are the pregnant looking ones.

Ian mentioned it is common that people prune for aesthetics and not for fruit, so observe the second and third year buds and only remove those branches that are overcrowding.

Ian advised against using loppers because they bruise the branches, which encourages disease.

Disease such as woolly aphids can be treated in a number of ways, which we discovered in last year's workshop. Ian's notes for the treatment of disease can be found here (once there scroll down).

Thank you so much Ian Clarke for gifting your knowledge again this year. We look forward to the apples at the library producing another abundant crop. Artist as Family made a Library Fuji cider with them this year. What will you do with this free resource that is 100% community nourishment?

For insurance purposes, those who came included: Patrick Jones (facilitator), Ian Clarke (presenter), Jeremy Yau, Marcus and Kaiden Harmsen, Jonathan Swan, Olivia Gourley, Pam Armstrong, Alix Downing, Emily Wilden, Sharon Reading, Tina Whitaker, Geordie Collins, Robbie Woohey, Jade Dela Haye, Chris Dilworth, Odette Dilworth, Lauren Richardson, Fe Porter, Fab, Luna and Ant Petrucci,  Dora Berenyi, Nick Ritar, Brenna Quinlan, Tracey MacDonald, Tracey Collinson.

April's autumnal working bee

Ayumi, Anita, Tony, Alison, Sam, Ruby, Ian

After a week which saw welcome rain followed by days of drizzle and cloudy skies, a slightly smaller than usual group of dedicated willing workers gathered in crisp autumnal sunshine for the April bee. We had planned to mulch all the beds, but, acting on a needs-to-be-done basis, the paths were mowed, edges trimmed, lots of green tomatoes that would not now ripen were harvested, and various spent plants pulled up and added to the compost. Potatoes were dug, beans collected, cucumbers gathered, broccoli picked, worms admired. The more advanced compost was turned, while the newer pile of trimmings and spent plants grew. Amidst these activities a central bed was cleared, sifted, and planted out with various seeds including coriander, varieties of silverbeet, lettuce, beetroot and parsley. An energetic morning passed quickly with brisk labours alongside much catching up, planning, talk & laughter. At the end of the morning there was produce to share round, and plans were made for mulch-spreading here, and at Rae Lands, over the next couple of weeks.

Sam, Ian, Anthony, Luna, Fiona

Tony & Anita

Sam, Alison & Ruby

Ruby, Ayumi

Tony, Anita, Maureen, Ayumi

Ruby & Alison

Ruby, Alison, Anita / Sam's legs & produce

Tom in the foreground

Sam & Anita

Anita, Alison, Anthony, Ruby, Sam

Ayumi, Sam, Tom, Anita, Alison

Hannah & Ayumi

Agnes over on the right there! (Pics: Maureen & Ian)

Gardeners and visitors included Alison, Ruby, Tony, Sam, Fiona Anthony & Luna, Ayumi, Anita, Ian, Vivienne, Miriam, Sumar, Maureen, Tom, Hannah, Laurel... and Agnes, this month's canine observer (reminding us that there are beings other than human...)

Next Albert Street working bee: Saturday 10 May