Welcome in the season of spring this Sunday 2nd October 10am-1pm at the Alice Springs Community Garden Spring Fair.
The Alice Springs Community Garden (ASCG) is located at Frances Smith Memorial Park, Burke Street, Eastside. Since 2010 it has come to be a thriving hub of activity with more than 34 personal plots, communal gardening plots, a mandala garden, and a cob oven. The community garden hosts regular working bees and community events, including the annual desertSMART EcoFair gardening workshop with Costa Georgiadis (Gardening Australia).
Unseasonal rain has seen the garden flourish, a work for the dole team are constantly improving garden infrastructure with garden walls and seating, and the recent installation of a solar-powered pergola offers exciting new opportunities for activities and events at the ASCG.
The Spring Fair invites community members to come and see the garden in full bloom, see recent improvements, enjoy workshops, food, drinks and entertainment, and meet some of the volunteers who keep the garden thriving.
The event starts at 10am with workshops including:
10.00am Seed Saving
10.30am How to build a Earth Bag Garden Wall or Seat
11.00am Bee Keeping
11.45am Drying food: How to use the Community Garden solar dehydrator
12.00pm No dig gardening, companion planting
12.45pm Native flowers, birds and grasses in the Community Garden
There will also be garden tours, yoga, pottery making, scare-crow making and fresh produce for sale.
The Alice Springs Community Garden is managed by a volunteer committee with organisational support being provided by the Arid Lands Environment Centre. The garden welcomes new members and volunteers and has new individual plots available. The ASCG invites anyone interested in gardening or being involved with the garden to come along to the Spring Fair this Sunday.
"Being involved in the community garden is a great way to learn how to make gardening in Central Australia a rewarding experience. We hope more and more people will join the ASCG, form friendships and help extend the knowledge of successful gardening in Central Australia,” said Bruce Simmons, ASCG Convener.
“My vegie garden attempts kept failing until I joined the community garden. My first season was rewarded with broccoli twice the size of my hand. The help of people who know what they are doing, and the fun of the social events makes the community garden a supportive place to learn and meet new people,” said Sue Gregory, ASCG volunteer and Spring Fair organiser. “I have halved my grocery bill and I am now eating produce that is healthier and fresher. Plus the food swapping is fun!”
“The community garden is a place for everyone – our gardeners include school groups, members of the multi-cultural community, people with disabilities, people who don’t have gardens in their own home, people who love gardening and people who love the community feel that the garden provides. We invite everyone to come along this Sunday and enjoy the Spring Fair. Being able to buy local, chemical free, organic produce will be a highlight,” said Sue Gregory.
To find out more information about the Alice Springs Community Garden please email [email protected], keep up to date via the ASCG Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/AliceCommunityGarden/ or check out the latest news on the ASCG blog http://www.alec.org.au/garden_blog