A growing attraction

People: NOLA GREEN den in their own homes, it drew people from all sorts of backgrounds and occupations and from a range of ages but all with a common love of gardening, or a desire to learn how to garden.

IT WAS an unattractive weed-congested neglected area of bush before a dedicated group of volunteers turned it into a growing attraction that is Our Community Garden.

Located just over the hill from the main street into town, the community garden has blossomed under the care of a happy bunch of people who happen to love gardening.

Every Friday, the group gets together to weed, prune, plant, harvest and tidy up, before gathering on the verandah of their shed for a cuppa and a chat on that day’s activities.

Last Friday, it was a bumper crop of tomatoes, grapes and a variety of seeds collected from the plants.

The first hurdle was finding a space for their garden, so they approached the Collie Shire Council seeking an appropriate location.

Several were suggested, including the site which is now the Collie Art Gallery, but this was discarded as it potentially would be the target of either vandals or pilferers.

“We were helped a lot by shire councillor Ian Miffling, who walked around a number of sites with us, and guided us to this eventual location,” long-term member Viv Marshall said.

“There was space here, and the potential to keep an area of native vegetation on the block as well as develop the individual plots.

“In the beginning, it needed a lot of groundwork, clearing weeds and fallen timber, but we got a lot of help.

“Cath Dowdell was our president and we got a huge grant for our shed, a lot of help from South32, and sleepers from Brookfield for the beds.”

The grants, along with a lot of hard work, helped establish the large shed to store equipment, a small tractor to help with earthwork, a play area for children, a covered seating area used for workshops and afternoon teas, a toilet and attractive fencing which became a necessity after some of the beds were vandalised, and some taps were turned on, wasting water.

The most recent development is a permaculture area, which is being established.

The individual beds are assigned to members who pay a fee, and they can then decide what they wish to plant. They can decide to keep the produce for themselves, or they can share it with others.

This section of the garden has been adopted by Gay and Geoff Wilks, who began planting kangaroo paws and other native plants which have prospered. They have also begun planting the bare areas of the section with native trees.

“We planted 150 trees this year, and we intend to plant more,” Geoff said. “All of them are native to this area, so we know they will grow well. We have included the particular banksia which is found here, banksia attenuata.

“The kangaroo paws are doing well, you can see the new young shoots coming through. It is an area of native bush close to town, that people can come and see.

“It is a transitional area of classic woodland and banksias.”

At present, all the beds are taken, but there is a natural turnover from time to time, and beds become available.

The garden was started in 2010, with the seed of an idea from Felicity Nicholson, who had years of experience with a metropolitan group called Women Who Weed.

Felicity placed an ad in the local paper asking if anyone was interested in starting a community garden.

Aimed initially at those who didn’t have room to develop a productive gar-

Some visit their beds several times a week, some come once a week or whenever they have some free time.

“We have been getting the water sorted. This is the first year it has been done properly, so that is good,” Viv said.

The neglected unsightly block is now an attractive area which draws visitors.

The section of native vegetation has been retained and turned into an informative walk trail which highlights “bush tucker” plants which are outside the fenced area, so it can be accessed at any time.

Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who got sacked because she couldn't control her pupils?

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A short psychic broke out of jail. She was a small medium at large.

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A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

As well as encouraging people to call in on a Friday, the group has played host to a number of community groups, both from within Collie and from around the south-west.

They have also held workshops on building bee hotels, controlling fruit fly, propagating seeds, wool felting, and have had help from Bunnings with workshops for children, including building scarecrows, and painting and planting out pots for Mother’s Day gifts. Anyone interested in joining the group, or in finding out more about it, can call in to the garden on a Friday between 10am and 12 noon, or contact the president Dale Hill-Power.

The Looks Around Bystander

House that!

A local was heard explaining that she is 16 and her neighbour is 20, but there is no 18. It became clear that she was referring to her address.

There is vacant land between the pair, but no number 18, which seems to confuse visitors. The ladies are considering getting miniature houses, labelling them number 18, and installing them next to their fences.

Where’s Auslan?

A Collie school is teaching Auslan to its five/six year old cohort. We heard last week of a student asking another student: “Just where is Auslan?”

Seems like a logical question when you think about it, so the answer is not that surprising:

“In the middle of Australia”.

OBE

One of the Bulletin staff is in the OBE group (over blasted eighty), so was a bit stunned when lining up some primary school kids to be photographed, to have one suddenly ask: “Why are you so young?” Sorry, what did you say? “Why are you so young?” Another said, with regrettable honesty, “No, she’s old.” “But she’s only young,” came the response. We think there may have been some confusion between the term “young” and the term “short”.