Garden visit to Fernmount Hyde and Seek

 Saturday's visit to Chris's and Merren's garden was a warm affair (in both senses), with friends and new faces congregating on the deck of the house, originally built by John and Carol Vernon.

Chris outlined the discoveries and their changes/additions that go with moving into new digs. They have decided to observe the annual garden cycle, before making any garden removals or rennovations. John thoughtfully left behind details of the garden's planning and possible plantings. So down into it we plunged, for a game of hide and seek.

We emerged satisfied after finding a few treasures, with a great appetite for the spread waiting up on the verandah.

Great day, Chris and Merren

Garden visit to Shambaba Retreat

 'Shambaba Retreat', formerly known as 'The Old Satyananda Ashram, is now home to a new Bellingen Shire family. They have taken on 12 acres of bushland and established gardens (both ornamental and productive) in beautiful Glennifer. 

 

Set up now to operate as a retreat and education centre, they enjoyed sharing with us the beauty of the property. We discovered more about productive growing in this unique, gorgeous part of the world.

Another joyful meetup for BSS at tranquil Shambaba, rich in exchange of ideas and produce.

We started off in the Mandala Garden and took part in a ceremonial ringing bowls experience. Then we stretched our legs to roam the park-like gardens, discussing lychee, macadamia and pecan management.

A generous verandah with panoramic views was then the setting for nibbles & networking over a lingering lunch.

Many thanks to Steve and his lovely wife for the warm hospitality and pleasure of the day.

Garden Visit to Leonie's garden in Repton

Friday, December 20th Set in a rainforest setting Leonie has developed a comprehensive  orchard and an extremely productive vegetable garden.

We also had our usual light lunch/ afternoon tea. Note the homemade blue cheese made by a member.

Leonie described her garden. She has only been back living in her home for a year. Leonie has a number of large protected vegetable beds to shelter her plants from birds and chooks.

Garden Visit to Tim’s new Food Forest in Fernmount

There was more than met the eye in this new Fernmount garden:

Tim and his growing family have been living in what was a vacant block for just over two years now, some of you may be familiar with it as the former 'Secret Garden' nursery. Lots of planning, passion and effort has netted him a food forest, jumping out of the ground, out and proud, in the front yard. An unorthodox style, but then a little chaos always brings opportunity.

Kale

  Around the back there is more experimentation and innovation with livestock and microclimates; endless fun and education for his kids.

Tim tells us about his banana trees.

We learned Tim has recently gained an organic certification for his property. So he is careful what he feeds his livestock and where he uses his produced animal manure.

Garden visit to Susan's in Urunga

SATURDAY April 13, 11.00pm - 2:00pm

Remember to seek out the sign-in sheet on arrival.
Please bring a snack plate to contribute to our quick shared brunch

Over the last 3 years, Susan has been steadily building up from scratch, in the middle of Urunga. The good soil and the mild climate have worked with her, to produce a rewarding mix of ornamental natives and a productive vegie patch. Bigger and better things are planned for the patch, but so far so good with this garden project.

If you have them:
Please bring seeds or cuttings to share.

Coming? please click here to RSVP, to obtain the address and so we know who’s attending. Please RSVP even if you already know how to get there.

Organiser: Lisa O'Callaghan / gardenvisits@bellingenseedsavers.com or phone 0417 536 490

Diary Dates: Green Patch Seeds Visit October 14

Diary Dates

Visit to Green Patch Organic Seeds Open Day, Taree Sunday 14th October, 10am - 2pm We will be carpooling to this event, to arrive in time for the Farm Tour at 10am. Please RSVP if you would like to be included in the carpool, otherwise, see you there! Entry: FREE Tea & Coffee Provided     Where:  Greenpatch Organic Seeds, 109 Old Bar Rd, Glenthorne, NSW 2430 Turn off the Pacific Highway at the Taree South exit taking the Old Bar exit and follow Old Bar Road for 900 metres.  The property is on the left hand side. Includes: See where we grow over 200 varieties of seeds and 500 varieties of nursery plants propagated onsite. Take advantage of over 70 years horticultural experience on the day. Self Guided Tour. An excellent experience plus an opportunity to take a rest and enjoy the gardens we have developed. 10am – Farm Tour including orchards, herb & flower gardens, nursery production & vegetable seed cropping. 11am – Bee keeping. Anna & Sven from Amber Drop Honey are local environmentally minded bee keepers passionate to share their wisdom. Workshop information is to be confirmed. 12pm - Lunch will be served for a gold coin donation. BBQ - German Sausages, Vegetarian options & Salad. Tea & Coffee provided. Enjoy the music from ‘Dingo Creek String Band’ 12.45pm – 2pm Plant Propagation workshop covering the basics of Seed Raising, Divisions & Cuttings. Neville a horticulturalist has been propagating plants in a commercial setting since the late 1970’s so he will be teaching you from his own experiences. All Day – The nursery and shop will be open from 10am to 2pm if you would like to purchase seeds and plants or seek gardening advice. Biocast+ with Lee Fieldhouse from Islands in the Stream will also be available all day with his wealth of knowledge. He will also have his Biocast+ products available on the day.   Coming? RSVP to carpool there Organiser: Leela O'Callaghan gardenvisits@bellingenseedsavers.com or phone 0417 536 490

November - What Bug is That? Sunday November 18, 1pm - 4pm  and address unknown for web rsvp Brierfield In November we visit Tricia's garden in Brierfield, which is a delightful setting for a Q&A gathering, despite the lack of vegie garden action. Start collecting your questions and specimens. Our resident entomologist Debbie will be identifying your bugs! Bring them in sealed containers only, we don't want them to spread. Also bring your gardening questions to share with the group. Together we can find you some answers. RSVP not available yet.

July Garden Visit to Tim’s new Food Forest in Fernmount

More than meets the eye in this new Fernmount garden:

Tim and his growing family have been living in what was a vacant block for just over a year now, some of you may be familiar with it as the former 'Secret Garden' nursery. Lots of planning, passion and effort has netted him a food forest, jumping out of the ground out and proud, in the front yard. An unorthodox style, but then a little chaos always brings opportunity.

Around the back there is more experimentation and innovation with livestock and microclimates; endless fun and education for his kids.

Inspirational! Tim has a lot of plans and ideas and thankfully for him and his family, also the energy of a kelpie to make them happen. In just under a year he has moved a house onto an empty plot, moved the family in, cleared a creekbed, set up chickens, sheep and a pig run, and planted out the entire front area as a baby food forest that's easy to mow around. What grows well, grows well and what's too fussy is left behind. Tim had a bunch of ways of propagating that don't waste time. The easiest way to plant a tomato is to get a ripe one and squish it into the ground where you'd like more to grow. We saw a broadfork in action - it's a giant garden fork that's more effective and more efficient for aerating or turning over new ground. We were introduced to a bunch of fertiliser ideas. Throw the manure in with the chickens to scratch up, eat the seeds and break down. Give the scraps to the pig. Home grown popping corn and a table groaning with cakes were very much enjoyed too. Thanks to Jeff for all our photos.

Using a Broadfork

Liquid Gold

Seedsavers see Tim's new banana plantings

Using the popping corn harvest

Gathering at Leela's garden in Dorrigo on 15 November 2015

Leela's garden

Leela talks about her garden

everything needs protection

the garden needs protection from the new goats

the indoor garden

October Gathering at Erik's beautiful property

discussion on the verandah

inspecting Erik's garden

Erik 

shared plant material from previous gathering

Our June Meeting

Jodi and Michael gave an interesting presentation about gardens they have visited.

Garden Gathering at Dorrigo – 1-4pm, Thursday 21 March, 2013

Jodi demonstrates her seed mould during a previous visit.

We will be at Michael, Jodi and Quinn’s lovely farm at Dorrigo.  This will be our second visit and we are very much looking forward to being there again.The more we can car-pool the better so please let me know if you can either offer or would like to receive a lift as soon as possible.

As soon as I hear that you wish to take part, I will let you know what to bring and how to get there.

RSVP:  by Monday if you can please.
Irene Ph: 6655 9090