what's happening in the garden - news & events

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Spring is turning to summer, the rain cycle continues and the strong winds have arrived ... keep composting and prepare beds for new planting as cool weather is replaced by longer days and more intense sun.  Keep the mulch up to retain moisture.  The change of season brings new growing opportunities.  See our proven  "planting guides" and maintenance tips in our click here "How to' section for December as Plants spurt upwards.  Keep your garden looking lush and tasting delicious with these tips.

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Our President Rob recognised with an award...

Woollahra Council awarded Rob Joyner their 2020
'Contribution to the Natural Environment' Award

in recognition of his dynamic and constant energy

as a founding member in 2009 and a very involved

President and contributor to our garden. 

"Rob has led the Paddington Community Garden for

several years and from it's beginnings drove the

construction team which installed raised garden beds,

built a rotunda and pergolas, installed water tanks and composting tumblers and facilitated many other projects that have seen the garden develop into
the wonderful community asset it is today.  Rob's commitment  to preserving the local natural environment influences all the practices adopted in the garden relatingb to organic gardening, recycling green waste and watering wisely.  Congratulations Rob!  Thanks for all your hard work and effort over many years."

the council said in it's award press statement.

 

In February the gardeners got together for a
Working Bee... much achieved, lots of weeding and
preparation of team plots.   Thanks to everyone for

a big effort in keeping our garden looking so great

and growing those healthy organics.

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New Gardeners   APPLICATIONS  CLOSED June 30

and will re-open on June 1st, 2022  Now in our 12th year demand to join our band of over 53 gardeners has been growing each year and we have had a pause over COVID-19.  'Expressions of Interest'  to join can be completed in June 2022 so pop a note in your diary to visit our website and down load the form in May 2022.

 

Celebrating 10 years of GROWTH... in October 2019 (pre-COVID era) 60 of our gardeners and friends sat down around a very long table down the centre
of our lush garden to celebrate the first decade of the Paddington Community Garden overa "Big Fat Greek Lunch".  Lots of hard work, inspiring leadership and friendship have gone into making this a successful community space.  As usual the teams of volunteers put together something special to mark this milestone.  Champagne in the pergola to start, classic entrees of Dolmades, Tzatziki & bread, followed by oodles of BBQ Lamb and Rosemary, roast chickens, salads extraordinaire, honeyed sweets and a few glasses of cold liquids, resulting in that very full feeling...  satisfaction that we have celebrated well.

 

Top TIPS...  a number of our gardeners have shared their experiences and insights with a series of short workshop at our monthly meetings.  Here's 2 to enjoy; Rob shares his hard learned lessons on successfully growing tomatoes (there's also a link to a segment on ABC's Gardening Australia for even more tips from Tino in Tasmania) and Djo gives us a unique perspective on lunar planting... moon fans click here.

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My Garden Rules!'... recipes from the gardeners. The organic produce that grows in our community garden goes into delicious healthy meals... our talented gardeners share some of their favourite veggie recipes right here.  

 

Sample David's 'Healthy Veggie Balls"... if you have lots of Silverbeet, or other spinach, and you'd like to do something different here's a way to make some great comfort food, inspired by the Italians, or maybe the Spanish in David's case.  Based on Strangolapreti alla Trentina here's the link...

 

Or... enjoy Djo's 'Ratatoueille a la Francias' recipe... eggplants are easy to enjoy warm with meats, salads, BBQed, and so delish!  Visit our recipes page (just below "Gallery" in the top banner) and start enjoying your Aubergine harvest more.

           

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events coming up

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NEXT Garden Meeting and CHRISTMAS PARTY is planned for Sunday November 28 to start at 4pm. It's our AGM get together to review the year, share team reports and ideas and plan for summer planting,   There will be a communal celebration on the new Unlocked-Festive-Season after the meeting.   Bring a plate (with food) to share and a bottle, and the dress up challenge is being creative with the letter "F" .  Wit will be rewarded with accolades and pics on thew website!

 

Fingers crossed for the  vaccine roll-out aheives ongoing protection of all Aussies as communities get out and about during the festive vseason.

 

See you back in the garden! ... don't miss or F-Christmas Party on the 28th

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PS.

We celebrated our 'Return from COVID Lockdown-1' in April with the launch of our new wood fired pizza oven...  Rob, our President presented an overview of the past unusual gardening year followed by a 'PIZZA harvest meal' of delicious gourmet veggie pizzas prepared by our garden team chefs.  Yummmmm!  

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Garden members celebrate our 10 Years of Growth

over our 'Big Greek Lunch'  full tummies and lots of smiles