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The re-establishment of the vegetable garden and composting
system began in Term 1 thanks to the assistance of Erasmus parents
at the March working bee, Geoff Barry (grandparent) and Vivienne
Street (Prep mum and I.C). Corrals for managing prunings, mulch and
leaf mulch have also been installed, as has a cheap but effective
rainwater collection using 4 x 240 litre mobile garbage bins with
short lengths of garden hoses between them as siphons.
First Crops for 2007
The first crops appearing in the vegetable beds this year are a
green manure crop of peas and beans (to re-introduce nitrogen into
the depleted soils), broad beans, potatoes and carrots.
Coriander, parsley and sage have been planted in pots.
Parsley is already being harvested and a couple of citrus trees
re-established.
New Compost System
The stone corral in the compound has been sectioned off to start
a 3-bin composting system. Since the beginning of term 2 this year,
food scraps and used napkins from the kitchen are being collected
daily and are starting to compost nicely, with the hope of a first
‘batch’ of compost within a couple of months. Plans are afoot to
soon establish proper compost bin lids and higher dividers. Compost
of other garden materials is also being cultivated in two
tumblers.
Future Plans
In the next couple of months it is hoped that some voluntary
work will result in the establishment of permanent corrals for
garden materials. We also plan to apply for a grant to install
a water tank to collect water from the roofs of the surrounding
buildings and to buy a mulcher for tree prunings.
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