TNG Member News 2022

Notes from Free Fruit tree workshop at TNG on Sunday 1 May 1, 2022

August

Working bee (weather permitting)

Sunday August 14, 2-4pm. Please come along to help the committee do some early preparation of the garden for our Spring Festival on October 30.

How to stop theft of produce? Any thoughts?

Over the years a variety of produce has sadly disappeared from our garden. Recently an entire crop of broccoli was ripped from the plants in one of the plots, to the great frustration and annoyance of the gardeners who were looking forward to enjoying the ‘fruits of their labour’. Do you have any ideas about what can be done to prevent, or at least minimise theft? We would welcome your ideas (send in return email). All suggestions will be considered seriously – so don’t confine your ideas to the conventional!

Ideas/contacts for trade show at Spring Festival - Sunday October 30

We will invite members of our community into the garden to purchase seedlings and enjoy morning/afternoon tea/lunch. Peter is organising a sumptuous food range, and we will be appealing to our member cooks to donate café style cakes. We would like to have a small range of appropriate and relevant ‘trade tables’. If you have something to sell, a community group to promote or information to share, (or know someone who has) please respond with ideas to this email address.

Seed sowing workshop Sunday 11 September, 2-4pm

The aim of this workshop is to prepare and sow seedling trays to propagate for sale at the Spring Festival. This year we are not sowing tomatoes for sale, but concentrating on fancy lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, snow peas and some other greens. Come along to help with the sowing, and if you would like to prepare some to take home for your own use, bring your own clean seedling trays (or butter/margarine containers etc). We will have potting mix, labels and seeds to share.

Be active on Facebook

TNG has a Facebook page which is looked at by many, but few people are posting. Please post some photos of your gardening successes, handy hints and tips related to gardening etc. Your first post will not appear immediately as it will have to be approved by admin, but don’t be deterred. We have had to put some screening in place in order to prevent a large number of inappropriate foreign language posts that have been occurring lately. All garden, vegetable and TNG relevant posts are welcome.

Pickling olives

Our website has a link to a new video from member Adel about how to pickle olives.

https://taroona.tas.au/neighbourhood-garden/gallery/

IMAS Development - Southern Futures

Two local consultation sessions are advertised by Southern Futures:

Online: Thursday, August 18, 7.00-8.30pm.

On-site: Saturday, August 20, 3.30-5.00pm. Please meet at the IMAS gates.

See taroona website https://taroona.tas.au/news-2023/imas-developments/ for more information about the developments and for accessing the online session.

July

What to sow and plant now

In the depths of winter there is very little that can be sown or planted now. See our guides here:

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

The good news is that you can prepare your plot for Spring by removing weeds and spent vegetables. Look in the chamber under the worm farm to see if there are any worm castings you can add to your plot. Use a rake or hoe to extract it. You can also add a bag of sheep manure to your plot. Find it in the bays near the compost.

Do you still need your plot??

Our waiting list for a plot is growing. If you no longer need your plot, please don’t wait until the end of the year to let us know. Tell us now and we can make an eager local happy.

Saturday 30 July – Grand Opening of the Children’s Fun and Food Corner (mud/sand kitchen)

More detail on our website and facebook page closer to the date.

Free Workshop- make a mosaic plot number sign

Sunday July 24 – 1-4pm

Would you like to make a colourful and arty sign for your TNG plot? We have all the materials needed to make 8 or 9 plot number signs from recycled tiles and other materials. For more information or to book in, please respond by return email. Not suitable for young children, but an older child accompanied by parent is OK. There is no charge and all materials are provided.

Dates for your diary

Saturday 30 July: Grand Opening of the Children’s Fun and Food Corner (mud/sand kitchen)

Sunday 14 August: working bee 2-4pm

Sunday 30 Oct: TNG Spring Festival at the garden

June

Working bee at 2pm this Sunday, 19th

Tasks: straightening the perimeter edging on the top side of the garden and continue the mulching of the perimeter

Sunday, 19th June at 4.30pm

Winter Solstice event. All TNG members and families are invited

Let's celebrate the cold and darkness as we approach the shortest day!

Peter will be preparing some delicious hot food, gluhvine and a non alcoholic spiced fruit punch.

We will toast marshmallows in the fire pit.

Please bring your own mug.

Rug up, wear a beanie. Bring your lanterns.

We hope to see you there.

Stitching and Japanese Rock Wrapping Workshop

Sunday, 17th July 2022 at 10am -- Taroona Community Hall

Register at www.eventbrite.com

Come along to learn some new skills.

Protect our native wildlife and our pets.

Winter brings rats and mice into homes and gardens looking for shelter.

Poisons are dangerous so please remember-

1. Use manual traps

2, With poisons read the labels. Those marked 'caution' are a better choice than those marked 'poison'.

Keep warm and active. Gardening is good way to do both!

May 12th.

Next Working Bee: Sunday 15 May, 2-4 pm

Shared afternoon tea at 4pm. Hot drinks will be provided.

Newspapers wanted!!!

If you have old newspapers please bring them along as we are planning a mulching binge in the Long Orchard.

Plastic D handle for garden fork

Plastic D handle for garden fork – a new one was left in the shed ready to repair a garden fork – if anyone has seen it or has inadvertently relocated it, could we have it back please.

Tasks seeking willing workers

We have a few small tasks looking for someone to do them

Sand and repaint the white timber bench in the garden. This is a faithful replica of the old design of Queensland Railway station benches and provides a relaxed and laid back seat in the garden. Its original gloss has weathered over ten+ years.
Refurbish the timber seat outside the lower entrance and move it into the garden.
Repair tools as they become broken and bent.

We are also always ready to welcome new volunteers to the mowing, fruit tree care and composting teams.

Enquiries to any of the above to this email please.

The Winter Solstice

MONA has its nude dawn swim, but we are planning a much more comfortable celebration possibly involving hot drinks and a fire pit in the garden. For your diaries….4.30pm on Sunday June 19^th. More detail later.

Successful Fruit Tree Care workshop-thank you David

Thank you to committee member and fruit tree group convenor David Coleman for organising such a successful workshop with horticulturalist Marcus Ragus recently. There were about 50 TNG members and people from the community in attendance, all eager to learn about the care of fruit trees and food gardening in general.

April 20th.

Next working bee: 2-4 pm Sunday 24 April

Please come along to our April working bee. There is lots of weeding to do to keep our garden looking nice and being productive.

Free Fruit Tree Workshop & information session, Sunday 1 May, 1pm – 3 pm.

Everyone is invited to a special workshop and information session with emphasis on care and maintenance of fruit trees. Ragus, head gardener at Spring Bay Mill at Orford, will lead us in an exploration of the health of the garden, with emphasis on the fruit trees growing in the ‘Long Orchard’ around the TNG perimeter.

Not just for TNG members, but other members of the community with an interest in gardening are warmly invited. There is no charge for participants.

Weeding please!

If you cant get to the working bee, please do some weeding in the perimeter areas under the fruit trees on your next visit to the garden

Please make sure to put weeds such as oxalis and rope (twitch/couch) grass in the green bins for disposal off site. Also include in the green bins any woody stems too coarse for composting. Other vegetable waste can be placed in the compost ‘waiting’ bays, preferably after being chopped up.

Rogues Gallery of weeds here: https://taroona.tas.au/neighbourhood-garden/weeds/

Other TNG Events coming up

Coming up in the next few months at TNG

Working bees are scheduled for Sunday 15 May, Sunday June 19 and Sunday July 17.

Exact date to be announced for the following:
June: Solstice Celebration
July: Workshop for members to make a mosaic plot sign
August: Workshops on basket weaving and pottery
October: Spring celebration

Planting and sowing guides are here: https://taroona.tas.au/neighbourhood-garden/planting-calendar/

April

Annual General Meeting

Results of elections held at the Annual General meeting on Wednesday 30^th March. All members of the committee were elected unopposed.

President: Michael Lynch, Secretary: Deirdre Brown, Treasurer: Christophe Marcant

Committee: Michael Asher, David Coleman, Margaret James, Peter Lutz, , Mary Mansbridge, Nel Smit

An especial welcome to our new committee member Mike Asher.

The President's Report and Financial report have been sent to all members.

The President's annual report is also available here.

Volunteers Needed

Several of our members are active in the following groups which keep the garden maintained, but more helpers are urgently needed. Please consider joining one of the groups. It will only be a few hours a year and is a good way to fulfil member obligations of 6-8 hours a year towards the common good of the garden.

“Fruit Loops” – maintenance and care of the fruit trees in the ‘long orchard’

“Composters” – making compost from our vegetable waste

“Mowing and Strimming Team” – keeping the grass in order

"Building and Repair Team" - progressive repair of plot structure

Remembrance: And finally, a small one-off…would anyone like to lay the TNG wreath on Anzac Day? For the last few years TNG has laid a wreath at the Dawn Service. The march starts at 5.30 am from the Bowls Club and proceeds to the war memorial in Taroona Park for the dawn service at 6am. A wreath and card will be provided, or alternatively if anyone would like to make a wreath, we can provide a recycled wreath base and TNG card.

All offers and enquiries for any of the above volunteer activities by return email please.

Mud Kitchen

A grant from the Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots Program is enabling us to create a 'fun and food' corner for children in a vacant space at the top corner of the garden. Member Graeme has volunteered to construct a very fine 'mud kitchen' from recycled materials, and other items planned for the space are a low garden bed, pot gardens, a 'bean and gourd arch' and 'dining space' furnished with log rounds. These items will complement the 'insect hotel' made by the children last year.

March

Next working bee

Sunday 13 March 2-4pm

Bring fruit to share at 4pm. Hot drinks provided.

Annual General Meeting – 7.15pm at St Lukes Church Hall

Wednesday March 30

Please consider nominating for the management committee. There is no need to fill out a form or to find a nominator. Self nominate by sending a message to this email address. For more information about management committee duties, just email this address.

Summer vegetables are coming to an end

Time to get rid of spent vegetables and weeds and to replenish the soil in your plot ready for autumn and winter vegetables. Please make sure to put weeds such as oxalis and rope (twitch/couch) grass in the green bins for disposal off site. Also include in the green bins any woody stems too coarse for composting. Other vegetable waste can be placed in the compost ‘waiting’ bays, preferably after being chopped up.

Rogues Gallery of weeds

Soil delivery

We have had a delivery of soil and compost mix. Please get a barrow load or two to replenish your plot. Fill to a maximum of 10-20 cm below the top so as not to cause the sides to bulge out and possibly come adrift.

Planting and sowing guides

February

The first working bee for 2022 will be held on

Sunday13 February 2-4pm

At 2.15 we will have ‘Five minute weed talk’ to make you familiar with the top two ‘nasties’ in the garden.

Shared afternoon tea at 4pm. Hot drinks will be provided. Please bring some fruit to share.

As this is the season of such lovely fruit, we will forego other snacks and just have fruit for afternoon tea.

Fees due

Thank you to all those who have paid their 2022 subscription. There’s just a few outstanding. See our how to pay page for details:

https://taroona.tas.au/neighbourhood-garden/how-to-pay/

Thanks to our specialist teams!

A hearty thanks is due to the members who have volunteered to do the many tasks around the garden. We do not always see them working, but we do see the effects of their work. There is a mowing and whipper-snipping team, a fruit tree carers group, compost makers, those who weekly put the bins in and out, waterers and weeders. And of course the big team repairing plots successively around the garden.

Spare produce?

Please put spare produce from your plot (and from the home garden) onto our free food shelves. Do not let it over mature in the ground. Someone will be grateful to have it.

Contributing to the garden

We ask members to contribute 6-8 hours a year to carry out tasks (not associated with maintenance of their own plots) to keep the garden healthy and productive. This would amount to one working bee per quarter, but if you cant help out on Sunday afternoons, there are tasks that can be done at other times. At the moment we particularly need help with compost manufacture and with keeping the inner perimeter weeded. Please consider volunteering for a task. Just let us know about your particular interest in a return email.

Basket weaving workshop

Basketry and Japanese Rock Wrapping workshop, in the garden Sunday February 20^th.

More information here:

https://taroona.tas.au/data/documents/Basketry-workshop-final.pdf

Coming up

Our AGM is due in March, and we hope to have ‘long table lunch’ to celebrate autumn. More information later.

Survey of members about dogs in the garden

Everyone should have received a brief survey email from our President Michael Lynch. We need to have your answers by February 28^th.