Well we had another well attended day at the gardens on Sunday. The air was crisp and the sun was shining hard at us and the plants. It has been fairly dry in the last month or so which has been a bit strange after complaining about too much rain for the last 2 years while the La Niña has been pelting us with water. We are in a neutral period currently according to the Australian Weather Bureau.

We started with a discussion about some of the mid to longer term projects we need to work on at the gardens including starting up a new ‘Arborist’ group who will be more regularly running sessions along side (or part of) the Sunday volunteers sessions and helping to focus maintenance on the trees like the heritage Apple Walk which is in dire need of a clean up and reshaping. Anyone interested in learning about shaping fruit trees and participating should keep an eye out for when these sessions are coming up via this blog.

We then directed our attention to the kiwifruit vine and trimmed it down for winter. This involved trimming most errant stems down to between 2 -5 leaf nodes and trying to disentangle the vine from the nearby umaboshi plum trees. We now have 3 fast growing female vines and one male vine planted around the central open space – all of which seem to like the local growing conditions. We cleaned up the resultant female vine cuttings for reshooting and growing in Spring.

We have plans for more plantings of both Kiwifruit and Kiwiberries (arguta) elsewhere in the gardens this next year as it appears it’s an ideal climate and location for growing them. However they need large and solid support to grow the vines on.

After this we continued our planned refurbishment and cleanup and raising of the beds located near the mud hut.

Then we ran out of time… as usual many thanks to all those who turned up to help out!

Next Sunday on the 27th of May for this time slot we have an offsite visit planned to a garden in Mount Tomah to talk about and look at Berries! We will be meeting beforehand at 9am at the gardens to arrange car pooling to get there. ( It takes up to 1 hour to drive there). We have limited spaces available so if you have not signed up yet give us a yell here on the blog or drop one of us an email – or turn up to the Friday session and let us know of your interest.

After a quick catch up from Lloyd on this busy Sunday there’s lots of activity in the gardens, one group is busy looking after annual vegetable and flower beds, from across the soup garden I see compost loaded into wheelbarrows and added to the scented rose bed. Another group meet to take a walk and review fruit trees, which require seasonal and regular tending as well as some specialist tools and skills. Already core volunteers shaped the circle of umeboshi plum trees for our big open day recently, but there are over a hundred trees on this site, and care has bad years as well as good ones, so not all the trees are in great shape today. Wayne, Brian Sue and I take an observation stroll through the apple tree walk, and with pruning loppers in hand is it not long before some emergency dead limb removal takes place. On the other side of the apple walk, are quinces, medlar and stone fruits.

As we examine the medlar, it turns out there are a couple of ripe fruits there, which of course we have to try. Rebekah suggests that although raw, they taste almost like a cooked fruit, indeed the flavour is comparable to a filling scooped from the loveliest of Danish pastries. The second is over ripe and dry but nontheless reminds me of Malt loaf, in colour and texture as well as flavour

In June a workshop is organised in conjunction with Transition Blue Mountains and the Fruit and Nut Tree Network. We will focus on pruning stone fruit trees along with this medlar tree, which are all looking a little straggly these days, in the process revitalising their beauty as well as their ability to bring us more fruit! To book in, check out the details over at the Fruit and Nut Tree Network site.

On Tuesday we had a group visit the community gardens hosted by the Blue Mountains  Cittaslow movement. http://www.cittaslow.org.au/

Cittaslow (pronounced “CHITTA-slow”) is an Italian idea developed from the *Slow Food movement. Cittaslow towns take the time to identify what is important and special about that town and its surrounding area and put in place strategies to preserve their unique qualities, making life better for everyone.
The “Global Village” may have created unparalleled opportunities for the exchange of goods and ideas, but it can also lead to the proliferation of uniformity which stifles individuality and creativity at the local level.

This included people from the Blue Mountains City council and other councils.

Also Yea and Goolwa - http://www.cittaslowgoolwa.com.au/australia.html

We talked about the history of the local Blue Mountains Community gardens and about some of the processes and politics involved in running a volunteer community garden space – for example – a community garden that is run without individual plots and funded mainly through locals contributions in work, time and ‘in kind’ donations.

We are always happy to receive visitors like this and welcome the opportunity to talk about the way we do things and what we would like to do in the future.

FNTN_MayJune2012_v2

Well autumn/winter has blown in right on time… we had a brisk session today with temp down around 10c. We refurbished a small garden plot near the main mud hut that had been overrun with Greater Celandine and Buttercup.

Part of this was to re-use some of the biodegradable waste that was donated to us by the organisers of the Wilderness Society WildEndurance 100km team challenge event that was held on the 5th-6th of May recently up here in the Blue Mountains.

After delivery it had been placed in some general piles of other compost material we had going and today much of it has been fully ‘embedded’ in an active garden bed.

We then covered this with more developed compost and leaf mulch etc. to make a raised bed.

This bed will be used for more vegetables and herbs.

Thanks to those who turned up to help today

The WildEndurance event organisers also dropped off (after the event) some boxes of left over bananas that were shared amongst some of the regular gardens volunteers. Most of them ended up being dried – very tasty and a great way to preserve them. Here are some before and after shots

We refurbished the top swale today and have started in on planting vegetables into this area. It is great overflow space for the central garden area which, although likely to be harsh for the young seeds and seedlings during both mid winter and mid summer, will allow us to expand our overall production and options for vegetable produce. There is no nearby water source and it can get pretty cold and windy.

Here is the ‘before’ photo. It’s hard to work this ground but the soil seems pretty good underneath once it has been turned and cultivated.

Michael has continued with the heroic efforts on the creek line and has been battling with a new patch of Blackberry and Privet.

This slightly odd ‘return to summer during autumn’ period has been very good for getting the winter vegetables off to a good start. The days have been clear and bright and warm.

Thanks all those who turned up to help today!

Here are some randomly selected photos taken by people mainly during the later garden tour. The earlier tour focussed on the main work on the water courses and creek. The later 2pm tour which ran immediately after Supapon’s talk about Apple varieties, took in: the heritage apple walk, the labyrinth, the new physic herb garden, the citrus area and swales, the northern creek and willow space (inhabited by many busy children), an interlude with the medieval jousters, the native bush regen space and finishing up in the carpark with the planters.

The day begins the day before, when Franklin and Michael pick up and drop off a canopy from Bendigo bank. The weather has been fine, but its good to have some more undercover options just in case! A little before 10am volunteers begin to arrive setting up for the day.

Lloyd brings impressive seedlings, sales begin at 11am; including mints of all kinds, interesting and unusual lavenders as well as cape gooseberries, yum. Seeds saved and packaged up by Sue and me include feverfew, spinach, warrigal greens, oca, purple congo potatoes and echinacea, many of which are lovely plants to have in the garden, as well as tasty or useful. The sale is popular and makes up about 1/4 of our fundraising total for the day!

A shade after 12, Michael Byrt  starts us off with guided tour through the regeneration work in our little winding creek. This innovative long term project was kicked off by Eric Mahony at Blue Mountains City Council. Volunteers have been trained in hard and soft engineering techniques and its they who continue this work, its a pilot project, and by the looks of it a successful one. Michael’s been working with the upper section of the creek for the last six months ’I've had the energy to give it for that time, I did want to work on sculpture but Fred said the work needed doing on the creek’. Now he’s a passionate advocate for community getting together to build on the council’s foundation work. ”This is all of ours” he reminds the touring group.

Geotextiles are incorporated into the job into which our local bushcare group then plants like the native blechnum that we planted just yesterday. Further down the creek the channel is wide, the water is clear and runs gently, slowly into the next section where no work has been started. There’s a stark contrast here, on one side of the bridge, a vision of a summer’s day, with trickling brook, the other is a tangle of blackberry and a deep channel where water rushes through silting up as it goes. “We work quickly” Michael says, perhaps by next year’s tour the whole creek will be opened out and slowed down.

Bra-skets and hot-shoes are just two of the containers Sue’s planting into, with decorative floral arrangement and chillis respectively. Out of the sun’s glare Sue demonstrates the delicate art of reusing almost any container (as long as you can get drainage in there you’re set!) into a productive growing space.

Hungry work all this walking, so Soup and Sourdough are next on the menu, a garden lunch favorite. Today there’s a choice of two soups, spicy pumpkin and creamy artichoke made with locally donated ingredients from the Blue Mountains Food Co-op, Katoomba Street Permaculture as well as sourdough supplier ‘Hominy‘. Supapon brings Chai into the mix and begins a tasting tour through some of the many apple varieties you can pick up at local suppliers LoganBrae. Pink Ladies, Braeburn, 20 Ounce and Aussie apple Granny Smith (oh yes, that’s an apple which was developed right here!) Sharing these lovely fruits, Supapon shares a thought

“There are 7500 apples grown around the world, how many do you see in the supermarket? Its our job to keep this diversity going”

So its apples for desert, and malus aforethought? (Sorry).

Segway after this leisurely lunch a ‘quick’ tour around most of the gardens, from Heritage apple walk, a little history about the labyrinth, a space used by meditators and performers alike. Next our latest addition the medicinal garden, inspired by local naturopath Kay Ridgway. Only three months in our small collection is thriving in a no dig raised circular bed with a cross of walkways, in previously unremarkable ground. We all try a pinch of cucumbery salad burnet and admire the bushy plants here with their various helpful healing habits. From there to the citrus grove, the willow in the water where local children are unphased by visitors and continue building a ‘house’ they’re quite proud of. I leave the tour as we return via the other side of the creek encountering a couple of the medieval reinactment group, who are retuning from IronFest with renewed sparring vigour. Not your average garden tour! Almost last stop and its over to the bush food and aboriginal garden and meeting circle. I’m gathering up a few things and starting to pack away when I see the tour has continued! back in the car park the new raised beds are full of greens to pick, and perhaps some picking is going on….

Thanks to everyone who volunteered and visited, you’re all helping to keep the garden growing for another year. I hope to see you at one of our volunteer sessions on Friday or Sunday mornings.

Suggestions for vegetables to plant in Autumn in the Blue Mountains (in March, April & May). These can be either direct sow into the ground or into seedling trays ready to plant out in a few weeks.

• Kales
• Collards
• Endive, raddichio & chicory
• Kohl Rabi
• Cabbages
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Fennel (florence)
• Lettuce
• Mizuna
• Mibuna
• Mustards
• Pak choy & other related brassica greens (Choy sum, Bok choy etc)
• Rocket
• Corn Salad
• Carrots
• Broad Beans
• Beetroot
• Spinach
• Silver Beet (chard)
• Chives, garlic, shallots & onions
• Coriander (cilantro)
• Daikon and other radishes
• Turnip & swedes
• Peas
• Snow peas
• Salsify
• Oregano
• Artichoke – both Globe and Jerusalem
• Parsley
• Calendula, Dandelion and other salad greens

Please suggest any others that you are successfully planting in Autumn.

This is also the right time to start thinking about what bare root fruit trees you want to plant during winter.

Just a quick reminder that this year Permaculture Day is on Sunday May 6th  - this coming weekend – and that the Blue Mountains Organic Community Gardens will be having an Open Day from 11am – 3pm.

A previous post with a listing of our planned activities for the day is here:

http://bluemountainscommunitygardens.org/2012/04/15/international-permaculture-open-day-may-6th/

This is an international event and you will find many listings for what is happening in Australia and elsewhere here:  http://www.permacultureday.info