Bass Coast Edible Gardens - Grow Food. Eat Well

Collecting a group of like-minded and enthusiastic people, having a chat with the Creative Harvest brains trust, winning a grant from the Bass Coast Shire Council and voila! The inaugural Bass Coast Edible Gardens Open Weekend was born.

Coordinated and curated by Bass Coast Adult Learning and hosted by local gardeners, the 19th and 20th of February 2022 will see some of Bass Coast’s finest Edible Gardens open to visitors between 10am and 4pm on each of the days. These gardens provide a rich variety of inspiration – different sizes, different approaches, but what they all share is that they are run by keen gardeners who are happy to impart their passion and expertise in growing food.

This exciting weekend of open gardens features a selection of some of the most interesting and productive edible gardens from across the Bass Coast Shire. You will be able to visit a diverse selection of gardens including community and backyard gardens as well as acreage properties; all producing a range of foods and using a variety of approaches.

To assist visitors to navigate the 2-day event, we have divided the shire into 3 clusters: Phillip Island/San Remo; Waterline and adjacent areas; Wonthaggi/Inverloch and surrounds; – this will help with navigating the event and scheduling your visits so that you can visit as many gardens as possible.

This event is designed to give you access to experts, to provide insight and to show what’s possible. Whether you are a beginner, an experienced gardener or just looking for a bit of inspiration, come along and have a chat with those who are cultivating their own edible gardens. A small sample of what’s on offer includes…

INVERLOCH

a well-planned, suburban, garden where you will find 5-6 timber-edged vegetable beds, herbs grown in pots on the deck and 2-3 fruit trees. There is some intermixing of vegetables and natives and a recent innovation has been growing flowers for bees, often at the end of the vegetable beds. These gardeners have tried different approaches to easy-management composting including collecting leaf litter in a wire tunnel to use for mulching and placing small black plastic bins and tubs directly on garden beds over winter – they drill holes in the tubs which allows worms to enter and leave as they please. Extra touches such as narrow garden beds with paved areas between make for easy planting and harvesting. This is a well organised and simple to maintain garden that is a joy to visit.

WOOLAMAI

acreage with an established, garden at which you are sure to be inspired by the gardener’s passion for growing food organically, improving soil health, and for the use of closed-loop, permaculture principles. You will find raised brick-edged vegetable beds, an orchard plus seed planted no-dig beds with very rich soil - evidenced by the abundance of worms. Helping these beds to thrive are two chicken coops ably guarded by 2 kelpies and a Bernese mountain dog. This all seasons garden produces crops over winter of garlic, kale, pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, broad beans and even strawberries. There are separate beds being planted with seedlings for summer – ready just in time for the 19th and 20th of February 2022.

After an inspiring visit to the Baw Baw Shire’s Creative Harvest weekend in 2020, Bass Coast’s Maddy Harford knew that something similar would be a great addition to the calendar of events in her s local shire.

Words & Photos supplied by B C Edible Gardens

ACROSS BASS COAST

…our range of Community Gardens from Coronet Bay on the Waterline to Cowes, along to Bass and through on to Wonthaggi are a part of the number of Community Gardens across our Shire. Over the edible gardens weekend several will be open to visit. What we reckon is most abundant in these gardens however, is the sense of community that comes from sharing space, time, skills and knowledge. There are different models across the gardens, but the benefits are for all to share. Whether you’re interested in food banks, land and/or water management, edible weeds or produce swaps, there will a community garden with something to spark your interest.

One of the gardens even hosts a (mostly) monthly repair café! Visiting these gardens will give you the opportunity to tap into the knowledge and expertise of those who give their time, skills and passion not just to growing produce within their community, but also to providing the space and environment for people to contribute, to learn and to experience the joy of ‘I grew it myself’.

This exciting Open Edible Gardens event is brought to you by Bass Coast Adult Learning (BCAL) and we definitely have a vested interest – our centre not only has our own community garden, but we also run an impressive and successful suite of horticulture courses. We have a commitment to local, sustainable food production and are part of a shire-wide movement to encourage people to ‘grow their own’.

But… this event is not just for regional folk - whether you live in the country or a city, in a suburban house with a small yard, in an apartment or on a larger block, this eclectic selection of gardens has something to offer you – come along and find out what that might be! Online bookings are now open via Trybooking: www.trybooking.com/BTVWB

For more information on the event and the participating gardens go to our website www.basscoastediblegardens.com or check our Facebook

$5 per person per garden $20 per person for all gardens

Additional tickets for the Bass Coast Edible Gardens Open Garden Weekend can be purchased on the day at each garden.

PLEASE NOTE This event will comply with the Victorian Government COVID Safety directives in place at the time of the Open Garden weekend.

And if you’d like to do more than just look, why not put your hand up to volunteer over the weekend. We are looking for people interested to staff the entrance tables, welcome people etc at each of the gardens. Training and support is provided so contact Leslie at leslie.adams@bcal.vic.edu.au to discuss the details…