Author : Jessica Peeler

Join us for this free online workshop with Karen Sutherland from Edible Eden Design, all about how to manage pests in your garden organically! There will be time for discussion, so bring along your questions.

Please register to attend. Click here for full details and the registration link.

Victoria is currently under strong COVID lockdown restrictions. We thank gardeners for their patience as we move to accommodate directions from different departments and areas.

As always we are working with the direction from the DHHS website, and with advice from Moreland Council.

Visiting the garden together under the Stay Safe Directions

Attending the gardens is for the purpose of growing and harvesting fresh food only.

We must maintain a register of members to the gardens for EVERY SINGLE PERSON that enters the garden to ensure we don’t exceed numbers allowed. We are still only opening these bookings up to members of MCG/our gardens.

There is a maximum limit of 2 people from 1 household allowed to be in the gardens at one time. This means that particularly on busy weekends, please stay within your allotted time and be considerate of others.

Additionally, for singles, they may attend the garden under the singles bubble rule where they may nominate 1 person outside their household to visit the garden with.

We recommend, as there is limited clarity between departments, that you carry a copy of the MCC email with you when attending. If you don’t have a printer, Richard and Kat have kindly agreed to print copies and leave in the shed.

We are using a simple spreadsheet to book times at the gardens. Links to the booking sheets have been emailed to members. ALSO you must check in at the garden using the QR code.

You should not visit the garden if you are sick.

You can only visit the garden if:

• You are a member
• You have booked a timeslot
• You are not unwell, isolating or waiting test results
• It is within your 5km zone
• You check-in using the QR code

At all times while in the garden you must:

• Wear a mask
• Adhere to hygiene guidance provided under Staying Safe, 
• Use sanitiser when entering/exiting the garden, clean and disinfect high touch surfaces regularly, including hoses etc. 
• Bring your own water bottle / cup for drinking and take them home again.
• Sheds will be allowed to be opened, there is only 1 person allowed in the shed at a time and everything used must be sanitised after use. Sanitiser/wipes are available at the gardens.

Other advice:

• Compost systems – please follow your garden’s FB group directions (see details below)
• New Members – we are taking new members – induction should include sharing this email and making sure they understand the booking system.
• No visitors to the gardens
• Wash all produce from the garden
• Do not share food or a cuppa at the garden 

Facebook groups:

• Pentridge Pentridge Community Garden Members, 
• West Brunswick West Brunswick Community Garden and Food Forest Members

After the lockdown is over – gardens will return to COVID normal open settings. Please ensure you use the QR code to check in and do not exceed gathering number limits.

Happy Gardening,

Moreland Community Gardening

Unfortunately, today we have some not so good news to share. Owing to the recent changes to the DHHS directives found here and here from the 22/8 and 21/8 respectively, we sought direct clarification from DHHS as to their position on the opening of community gardening spaces for the purpose of gardening and gathering food.

The directive from the department was that this was NOT a permitted activity, and we therefore are moving to close the gardens immediately.

We recognise this will be a blow for all of you – the gardens, the joy of growing and sharing space, even when we can’t do so together is a connection that has been important for all of us.

Members of the garden crew will be putting up signs and changing the lock codes so that we don’t miss anyone in this information.

We urge you to reach out to your community in other ways, both our gardens have active facebook member groups:
Pentridge Community Garden Members
West Brunswick Community Garden And Food Forest Members 

We’ll also be looking at scheduling some catch up events over zoom in this period. So, keep an eye on your inbox for news of these.

We hope to see you all at the garden soon,

Moreland Community Gardening, Pentridge Community Garden and West Brunswick Community Garden

Events at our community gardens are currently on hold due to COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria.

Community garden members, you should have received an email with information about how you can safely visit the garden at the moment (if you didn’t, let us know). The gardens are closed to the public until further notice.

Keep an eye on the calendar on this website for information about events when we can safely meet again. We will also post updates on Facebook:

Moreland Community Gardening

Pentridge Community Garden

West Brunswick Community Garden and Dunstan Reserve Food Forest