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Durable new garden beds for Brunswick green thumbs

Durable new garden beds for Brunswick green thumbs

Returning to pre-covid momentum has been a challenge for West Brunswick Community Garden, but now and again new faces appear at weekend working bees, eager to connect with nature and community.

Last Sunday, volunteers convened beside Dunstan Reserve to improve the 30 individual garden plots utilised by the local community.

Old Red Gum sleepers have experienced the winds and rain of Merribek weather and were well due for a replacement. CERES Fair Wood provided garden veggie bed kits, consisting of Cypress Macrocarpa sleepers, to help the team carry out the task.

“It’s great that this timber is very durable; we're hoping it will last another ten years,” says Richard, member of the garden’s committee.

“Around 2012, the then Brunswick City Council put [the land] out for expressions of interest and a local organisation who had been looking for an opportunity to develop a community garden came along.”

Since transforming what was an empty space to a flourishing suburban haven for plant life, including a ‘food forest’ that gives the public access to herbs and fruits, the garden has greater outcomes than horticultural produce.

“Obviously the garden’s principal activity is around producing food, but also we see ourselves as an educational resource.  We have a strong commitment to sustainability and organic gardening practices that we try to emphasise as much as possible in our workshops.

“We also have a role in creating community. As much as possible, we try to bring people together, some volunteers live by themselves and are looking for social contact.

“We try to cater for all interests and I guess it reflects the community here. We have a very diverse group of people both in terms of their background, people from all over the world who have settled locally.”