By Jonty Ralphsmith
The Berwick and Endeavour Hills Neighbourhood Centre are conducting weekly gardening workshops.
The Endeavour Hills Neighbourhood Centre run their sessions every Tuesday while the Berwick Neighbourhood sessions conduct theirs each Thursday.
The sessions occur from 9.30am to 11.30am.
The neighbourhood centres work in partnership with Food from Home, a branch of Enliven, to deliver the workshops.
On Thursday 17 February, Kat Lavers will be at the Berwick session to pass on a wealth of wisdom about seed-saving.
“She’s very knowledgeable about sustainability and seeds so we look forward to her coming along and helping out on the day and talking to us because she’ll be a wealth of knowledge so if people have a few questions even beyond the seed saving, she will have a lot of ideas that will be really helpful,” Berwick Neighbourhood Centre manager Kim Peterson said.
Seed saving involves retrieving seeds from fresh produce and storing them for future use.
The pandemic has sparked a renewed interest in gardening around the country and Ms Peterson encouraged people to engage in the practice.
“We’re really excited about it because we’re trying to bring community garden awareness to people to help them connect and learn about things and not feel so lonely after Covid-19,” Ms Peterson said.
“It’s broadening connections between not-for-profit organisations and this partnership makes it more cost effective and accessible to all members of the community.
“(Seed saving) has probably been forgotten about – we think about growing and harvesting things but we don’t often think about the fact that we can use the seeds from (what we harvest) and use them the following year so it’s about using that skill set in a hustle and bustle society.”
Each neighbourhood centre has a seed library where people can attain seeds for their own use and then replace what they have taken with the next generation of seeds.
People can also come to exchange seeds they have in surplus for different ones they want, to limit wastage and ensure people have access to different produce.
Ms Peterson asked people to come to the sessions with just one thing: a passion for gardening.
Amateurs, garden enthusiasts and the young and old are all welcomed.
As well as seed saving, among the topics discussed at the different workshops include constructing garden beds, addressing pests and properly feeding soil, with an emphasis placed on practical skills that people can use at home.
Currently, tomatoes, rhubarbs and strawberries are among the produce grown at the garden.
The Berwick Neighbourhood Centre is located next to Timbarra Hall and the Endeavour Hills centre is at 11 Hellyer Way.
