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Sustainability talks and Boyd Park

Sustainability talks and Boyd Park
Artemis Pattichi

September and October (so far) have been great educational months for the Southbank Sustainability Group, while we are waiting for the new Boyd park community garden and orchard.

In September we ran a talk on how to reduce our environmental impact through “zero waste” living. I conducted this talk with the assistance of a long-term “zero waster.”

Then on October’s first Saturday, we ran our second talk on “Conscious Consumerism and Fast Fashion”, focusing on the harmful environmental and human effects of fast fashion and some great solutions.

The talk was conducted by Madeline Clarke, founder of Green Spectrum. We are very grateful!

In early October we met the City of Melbourne’s team in charge of the long-awaited Boyd Park, and community garden.

With some of the park’s roll-out phases delayed, here is the latest on the community garden:

  • First half of October: Old school building demolished and north lawn fence removed;
  • December-January: North lawn completely cleared and built to adhere to new park design (current location of community garden’s in-ground plants);
  • January-February 2019: Orchard trees established in back right-hand side corner of new Boyd Park.
  • New tap and hose line added for watering.
  • Permanent toolbox to store gardening tools added; and
  • April-May 2019: Front of Boyd permanent vegetable and herb garden planter boxes established (near current playground area).

We already moved the passion fruit plants, climbing on the north lawn fence, to the concrete planters at the back of the area.

This is why you might have seen the dried passion fruit branches, instead the usual lively, green fence growth.

Over the next few months’ meet-ups, there will be opportunities to move more north-lawn plants and also for residents to take some of the plants to transplant at home.

You will slowly see the current community garden area move to the concrete planters in the back with the addition of new trees.

We meet every fortnight on Saturdays at 10am (on the first and third Saturdays of the month) at Boyd to talk sustainability issues and projects, garden needs and then we go out and tend to the garden for the second half of the meet-up.

The next meet-up is on Saturday, October 20. For more details or to get involved with the group or the garden, contact us at: facebook.com.au/SouthbankSustainabilityGroup or [email protected]  

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