Bundanoon Community Garden has been given a new lease of life thanks to Council allocating a permanent place to call home in Burgess Street. Drawing community members together, to learn from one another and enjoy the fruits of their collective labour, the garden will soon expand and diversify with the help of a grant through Council's Community Assistance Scheme.
"We're investing in a greenhouse needed to propagate a wide range of plants reliably in what can be a challenging Highland climate," says Athalie Dartnell who successfully applied for the grant.
The garden also has an active seed-saving program dedicated to preserving cool climate and heirloom seed stocks. "Our many members are passionate about preserving heirloom seeds and sharing knowledge that will benefit our community for generations to come," Athalie says.
A great deal of community spirit is poured into maintaining Bundanoon Community Garden. Residents of all ages, abilities and interests share time together tending to it.
"We're grateful for this additional support from Council as it gives us scope to grow. And we are open to more community members becoming involved," Athalie says.
Exciting new undertakings are in the planning for this keen group of Bundanoon growers. "We look forward to holding workshops similar to the successful Heritage Fruit Tree propagation project we ran during the Bundanoon Sesquicentenary in 2015, where we gathered scions from the many local heritage fruit trees, grafted onto root stock and now have many new trees in the area baring fruit."
Organisers hope to inspire even more Southern Highlands community members to grow fresh food.
There are so many good things like this that we can do together as the garden expands and grows," Athalie says.
Council's Coordinator Community Development, Corinne Buxton says, "We can see how hard these people are working to make good things happen for their community and just how much the funds are going to help them realise their vision, for the benefit of community members, now and in the future. Wingecarribee Shire Council is proud to partner with Bundanoon Community Garden as they continue to grow, through our Community Assistance Scheme."
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