Adelaide and Cygnet ....

I arrived on a day that was fine, sunny and 20 degrees. Three days later and it was so wet, wild and stormy that I could not take even one photo of son Hugh's great veg garden and when Pickle and I went out briefly to pick mint for the dish Hugh was cooking for lunch, the flooded concrete path blended with the pond so Pickle did not see the pond.....oh dear..... one very surprised and very wet dog!

But I want to describe one of Hugh's ideas that I am going to copy this summer, outside my own kitchen windows.....Hugh's garden edge is about a metre out from the back wall and windows of his house. Hugh has attached near vertical lines of string from the garden to under the gutter above the windows. Snow peas are happily growing up the string and producing well. This would be a fun way to shade west facing windows in summer, such as my kitchen window and, since my garden is also very close to that wall, it would be ever so easy to achieve a string wall of summer beans or even other things like cucumbers! I could also simply open the window et voila.... lunch!

Thanks Hugh!

Fern Ave. Community Garden, Adelaide.... some ideas for Cygnet

This community garden is a similar size to Cygnet's and is packed full of features and food all year round.

The main path sweeps through from front to rear, providing excellent access for workers, wheelbarrow, visitors, wheelchairs etc. It is a very welcoming, practical and attractive entrance.

 

 

There is a notice board on the outside of the fence, explaining about the garden and how to join in the various programmes run there.

One of the features is a pizza oven, used regularly by the garden for social activities.

 

 

 

There are many different styles of beds, from the set of individual, rectangular beds on the left of the main path, to the raised beds and group beds on the right. One of the groups to manage a plot is the Cancer Care Centre who also sponsor organic gardening courses run at the garden.

Some of the garden is also a kind of food forest, giving vegetables and herbs some shelter from the heat of the Adelaide summer.

 

People are encouraged to share seeds by depositing any spare seed into the box provided. The straw bale house mentioned is in the back corner and gives a comfortable place to hold meetings and courses. It also has a composting toilet.

 

Fruit trees are everywhere, including being espaliered inside the front fence.... while others such as citrus, olives, quinces, figs, apples and even bananas hide the side fences, providing an evergreen edge to the whole garden.

Everyone takes turns to co-ordinate the monthly working bees. These are on top of all members having access any time to work in the garden.

 

One day I hope the Cygnet Community Garden will flourish with life, as this one does, and its abundance will overflow, providing all who enter with a feeling of peace and contentment.