TNG Member News 2023

 November 15

 Next working bee, Sunday 19 November 2-4pm. Our main tasks will be clearing out spent vegetables and sowing and planting in the remaining spaces in the new raised beds, and carrying out some small tidying tasks on the fruit trees and children’s corner.

 We can enjoy our new social area at 4pm with a shared afternoon tea (please bring a small contribution to share). We will provide hot drinks.

 Healthy Tasmania Fund Step Forward Grant

 Your TNG committee is pleased to announce that our President’s application for a Healthy Tasmania grant was successful and we now have funds to install a number of new raised plots in spaces around the garden. The new family plots will help with reducing our considerable waiting list.

 PLEASE SAVE YOUR CARDBOARD!

 Have you seen those cheeky twitch blades (ie rope grass) poking up in our new raised beds. We will need to put several layers of cardboard in the bottoms of the new plots to deter the weeds for a few years or maybe months. So please save cardboard for us.

 Central Area development

 There are just a couple of jobs to do to complete the current redevelopment of the central area - namely the installation of a new gate and finishing touches to fence and path in that area. The infrastructure team has put in many, many hours of work over weekends and some evenings to complete this work. A big thank you from all our members!!!

 The next phase of installing more plots starts soon. Why not join the building team?

 A gentle reminder about working bees and assistance with the maintenance of our common areas

 Recently the President, Michael, wrote to all members about contributing to the overall maintenance of the garden. If you cant make it to a working bee there are still these tasks which you might like to take on. Just let us know through this email account if you are taking on a task to avoid doubling up.

• paint the new shed door and door frame
• weed and mulch a section of perimeter
• replace single hook with a hose hanger on greenhouse wall. (Hook causing kinks in hose)

• Join one of the teams: mowing, compost making, infrastructure (building).

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October 31

 Twilight Bee, 4.30-5.30 pm Thursday November 2.

 Our new shared raised beds are ready for Spring planting and sowing. Come along if you are free and we can get a good summer crop going very quickly.

 Jobs to do

 Following on from the President’s email asking for more member input of the practical kind, it was suggested by some that we could compile a list of tasks that can be done at any time, rather than just at a working bee. Here is the list. Please let us know (return email) if you will take on a task so we can avoid duplication, if you need materials, or if you would like more information.

• paint shed door  (and thanks Geoff for replacing the horrible old door with nice new one!)
• mend broken tools and oil handles
• lay pavers at top entrance around worm farm
• weed and mulch top corner behind worm farm (taking care of lemon, fejoia, rhubarb and chillies growing there)
• rehabilitate lime tree near mud kitchen
• weed and mulch a section of perimeter
• cut back suckers on some of the fruit trees
• replace single hook with a hose hanger on greenhouse wall. (Hook causing kinks in hose)

Time to plant and sow!

Now is prime planting and sowing season. If unsure about what to plant, see our website growing calendar for useful links

https://taroona.tas.au/neighbourhood-garden/planting-calendar/

TNG Email addresses

Finally, some people tell me they are confused about tng email addresses.  We have 2 TNG emails  (tng.member.news@gmail.com and tng@taroona.tas.au). Messages sent to either address land in the same mailbox and the Secretary either answers or forwards to the relevant person. Neither account is a ‘list server’. Only the Secretary reads and sends the emails. Email is our main form of communication to members so please make sure they are not landing in your Spam box.

October 23

A GENTLE REMINDER ABOUT WORKING BEES AND ASSISTANCE WITH THE MAINTENANCE OF OUR COMMON AREAS

As I hope you would all be aware, we schedule a working bee once a month to maintain the common areas in the garden. Over recent times attendance at these working bees has been pretty poor, to say the least, and primarily consists ofcommittee members.

I would really like to draw your attention to the section on our website headed Garden Plans and the heading “Member responsibilities”, with the following extract:

5-6 hours per year is hardly an excessive ask, and with more that 50 plot holders, we should be able to easily cope with the work needed to keep our garden a place we can all be proud of.
Please consider seriously this request and if you have any queries please feel free to contact either myself or our secretary Deirdre Brown on tng@taroona.tas.au

Michael Lynch
President

October 10th.

Spring Celebration

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped to make our spring celebration on Saturday such a success. The weather was fine and sunny, and visitors and members alike enjoyed the delicious array of food – from many homemade cakes made by our own baking fraternity, to the BBQ snags cooked by David and the burrito bowls prepared by Peter.

The proceeds from this fundraiser go towards providing the many things needed to keep the garden flourishing and developing. Thank you once again to our volunteers.

A knife was left on the cakes table on Saturday. Is it yours?

Next working bee, 2-4pm Sunday October 15th.

Sunday 15 October 2-4pm. Our main task will be to plant tomatoes in our new shared beds.

Our traditional shared afternoon tea will be at 4pm. Hot and cold drinks provided, please bring a small plate to share.

Next Is your plot looking sad?

Do a quick spruce up by sowing bush beans* now and you will be picking the crunchy pods in 8-10 weeks. Clear away debris, throw in some compost, new soil or worm castings, and plant the seeds. We will have seeds to give away at the bee on Sunday.

*Bush beans, (aka dwarf, French or snap beans) Most popular vegetable, originally from South and Central America, cultivated 500 B.C., introduced to France by 1535. High yielding and rich in vitamins A, B & C.

Our waiting list keeps growing!

If you  no longer need your plot, or do not have the time to work it, please let your committee know so that it can be handed on to the next person on the waiting list. You can still be a part of TNG with an Associate membership.

Dates for the diary

October 22: Biochar demonstration by Bill Harvey, making biochar in a portable furnace - near the Firestation/Bowls Club in Taroona Park. Organised by Taroona Environment Network. See more in the Sept. Taroona News, page 7.

 October working bee, Sunday 15th

 November Crop Swap, Sat 4^th.

 November working  bee, Sunday 19^th.

 December Crop Swap Sat 2^nd.

 December bee/wind up gathering – 10^th

September 14th.

Next working bee, 2-4pm Sunday September 17th

The infrastructure team will be building an additional member plot – all handypersons welcome to come along and help! We will also be tidying up the garden in preparation for the Spring Celebration on October 7th.

Shared afternoon tea at 4pm.

Spring Celebration

This will take the form of an invitation to our community to come and enjoy lunch/afternoon tea in the garden.

It will run from 11am to 2pm, and will follow on from the popular Crop Swap at 10am.

We are asking members to contribute  in one of these ways:

1. Donate a cake for our cake sales. We need café style cakes which cut up into generous slices. Please respond now if you can provide a cake so we know if we have sufficient supplies.
2. Volunteer for a rostered task – set up 9.30am-11, food service 11am-12.30 and 12.30-2pm, pack up 2-3pm.

Please respond in the next few days so that the committee can plan with confidence.

Any buskers out there?

Would any one like to spend half an hour or so busking on October 7^th? Let us know if you would be willing to add to the atmosphere with live music in the garden.

Mosaic workshop

SUNDAY 24 September 10.30-1pm. Calling for five people each to make a LETTER mosaic sign for the new raised beds. All materials will be supplied. Other crafters are welcome to join us to work on their own projects (eg personal plot sign) but will need to bring their own base plate and smashed tiles/ceramics. We have enough tile adhesive for everyone however.

No longer need your plot??

We have a long waiting list for a plot. If you are no longer able to keep your plot productive, please let us know so that it can be made over to another keen gardener.

August 9th

Working bee – Sunday 13 August 2-3.30

We will have a short working bee as the main task is to collect and stack fruit tree prunings. These will be used for a Biochar workshop and demonstration to be scheduled in the next month or so.

Biochar – making biochar demonstration

Taroona Environment Network will be sponsoring this activity and our members will be invited to participate. Watch for more information coming soon

Redevelopment of the garden central area

Work on the redevelopment is nearing completion. There will be an additional layer of gravel to be spread, construction of a path and installation of a new decorative gate. Two new garden beds are also to be constructed. Volunteer labour will be needed for these tasks in August and early September. More information soon.

Calendar of events for 2023

• September Crop Swap, Sat.2^nd. - includes ornamentals swap and yoghurt making workshop with Katja and Janelle.
• Spring event Saturday October 7^th to follow on from Crop Swap. 
• November Crop Swap, Sat 4^th.
• December Crop Swap Sat 2^nd.
• Dates to be announced for these events: Planting day with horticulturalist, TEN Biochar workshop, mosaic sign making

Harvesting now

The green flags in the new raised plots indicate produce that members can harvest. Baby spinach leaves are tender and delicious – please pick the leaves individually and the plants will continue to produce for weeks. Harvest the Asian greens by thinning the plants.

July

Soil testing workshop, 2pm Sunday 16 July at the garden

All our members and the general community are invited.

It all starts with healthy soil! Horticulturist Georgina Watson will present a workshop on soil testing with practical demonstration. This workshop is FREE and open to anyone interested.

Please note the session will be recorded for training and assessment purposes.

Next working bee Sunday 16th.

Our regular working bee will follow on from the soil testing session, but shortened to one hour. No afternoon tea as it is getting cold by 4pm. However, there will be baby spinach leaves to harvest at the bee.

Thank you Graeme

Thank you to Graeme who painted our white garden seat, which was showing signs of wear after about 10 years in the garden. Now it will sparkle on for another decade!

Odd Jobs

We have a few odd jobs which need doing in the garden, so if you have some time and a skill, please make an offer.

New gate and the wallaby problem

A small subcommittee is working on the design and manufacture of new gates for the entrance off Chiton Chase near the greenhouse. Some new fencing will also be needed in order to deflect wallabies from entering. In the interim we have done some temporary fixes which we hope will keep them out. Please do not open the large gate near the greenhouse. There are two other gates for entry, but make sure to shut them after entering.

June

Tasks: mulching perimeter, small jobs to tidy up the works on the central area.

Come celebrate from Midday on Sunday June 25th. with a long table lunch. Peter will be cooking us a pork roast and making alcoholic and non-alcoholic gluewine. We will also provide the usual hot drinks, and you are welcome to bring other beverages if you like. Please bring an autumn/winter themed dish to share, eg focaccia, flatbread, baguette, salads, pickles preserves and dips, and cakes and slices for dessert.Also bring your own plate, cutlery and mug.

All members and their families welcome, but we would like an RSVP to help with catering.

May 12th.

 Working bees

 Surface of the new central area-help needed to spread the gravel

 Kingborough Council has delivered the last of the gravel and now it needs to be spread in preparation for the ‘wacker packer’ which we will hire too compact the surface.

 When you are in the garden could you spread a few shovels full please? Then on

 Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 May there will be a ‘rolling working bee’ to complete the job. (This worked well for the 14 cu m of soil – thank you to everyone who helped to complete that task!)

 The regular working bee which would normally be held this Sunday is cancelled as it is Mothers Day.

 If you are unable to help with our working bees, you may like to volunteer to do one of these tasks.

1. Make/source and fit a new door on the shed
2. Reinstate the hose hanger (we will supply a pole) at the end of the new area.
3. Check and repair the perimeter watering system.
4. Sand and repaint the white garden seat.

We will reimburse for any necessary purchases. For more information please send us an email.

Don’t forget our Design a gate competition. Entries close May 31. All the detail is in the April news:

Solstice Celebration and opening of the new central area

Sunday 25 June from midday. We will be having a long table lunch. Bring a plate of Autumn themed food to share. More detail later.

April 16th

What’s happening in the central area?

The old weed ridden ‘community’ plots were demolished some months ago. New raised timber beds have been constructed and lined by a team of our members. The surface of the central area between the new beds has been levelled by machine, and gravel has been laid over Geotex  (landscaping fabric) which should deter weeds from coming through. Another load of gravel will be laid soon, and the surface will be thoroughly compacted. Premium garden mix soil has been added to the new raised beds , which will be planted out soon (see below). When ready for harvest, the produce will be shared among our members. The long table is being refurbished and will be repositioned soon.

There are still ongoing works planned to enhance the beauty and practicality of our garden, first of which is the design competition for a new gate. (see below).

Many people are due our thanks for the work so far…

1. Thank you to Roy Langman and Kingborough Council for making available the machinery to level the area and the staff, gravel and geotex for the surface.

 This has been done without cost to TNG and has saved us a significant amount of money, allowing us to use our funds for construction of the raised beds and for ongoing works.

1.  An amazing effort was made by a number of our members to shift 14 cu metres of ‘premium mix’ into the new raised beds. We had anticipated that we would need to have a rolling working bee right through to Sunday afternoon, but the job was all done by Saturday afternoon!! Thank you everyone for your hard work.

1. Also thank you to Jill and Jamie for bringing us a load of horse manure. The manure is still a little fresh and is curing in the resource bay.

1. Most of all…. we owe a great deal of thanks to Christophe for his continuing (and hands on) work in project managing the whole redesign and the coordination of tasks.

April 30 grand planting day

Sunday April 30^th 2-4pm, we invite all members and their families to join us in a grand planting and sowing event for the new raised beds. Seeds and seedlings appropriate to the season will be on hand.

To be followed by a BIG afternoon tea. Please bring a plate to share. Hot drinks will be supplied.

If weather is inclement, we will postpone one week.

Anzac Day Dawn Service

 Is anyone going to the Anzac Day Dawn Service in Taroona Park? If so would you be able to lay a wreath on behalf of TNG? For many years TNG has laid a wreath of simple garden flowers and foliage on Anzac and Remembrance Day at services in Taroona Park. We can supply a base if you would like to make a wreath or can supply a completed wreath. Please  email: tng.member.news@gmail.com if you can help.

 April

March

February

Workshops

Thank you

Miscellaneous Tasks around the garden

We appreciate that many members are unable to attend working bees in order to fulfil the member commitment of 6-8 hours a year. If you see a job that needs doing around the garden, please offer to do it at a time that suits you. Just drop a line to this committee email to let us know what is happening.

Hope to see you at the AGM!

14 January - Message from the TNG President