Yandina Community Gardens

41 Farrell street, Yandina

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Are you passionate about Sustainability? Are you our new Project Officer?

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Are you passionate about sustainability? Are you good at working with people? Do you enjoy problem solving? Delivering projects? Able to work autonomously and are self-motivated? And most importantly do you want to make a positive difference to your community?

Then here’s an exciting opportunity for you! The Yandina Community Gardens (YCG) is looking for an energetic and experienced person for a project officer role. YCG has received funding to implement a Food Waste Diversion pilot project in the town of Yandina on the Sunshine Coast. The project is for 12 months and you will be required to collaborate with approximately 20 businesses to divert their food waste. The role will be approximately 10hrs per week.

Why is this such an important project?

•If food waste was a country, it would be the third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after USA and China.

•Eliminating global food waste would save 4.4 million tonnes of C02 a year, the equivalent of taking one in four cars off the road.

•The Government estimates food waste costs the Australian economy $20 billion each year.

•Over 5 million tonnes of food ends up as landfill, enough to fill 9,000 Olympic sized swimming pools.

The project officer will work with YCG’s management committee and will need to develop and implement a system for business food waste collection and measuring. You will be involved in processing the food waste at the Yandina Community Gardens using a combination of vermiculture, black soldier fly larvae and composting.

Your experience in project implementation and evaluation will be very important for this pilot project.

Required skills / knowledge:

•tertiary qualifications and/or experience in environmental science, permaculture or related discipline.
•experience in planning, implementing and evaluating community projects.
•experience in composting and or worm farming.
•experience in community engagement and developing partnerships with stakeholders
•excellent communication and networking skills
•an understanding of environmental sustainability principles.
•Ability to perform moderate physical work, lifting will be required

If this sounds like a role for you, please send your application, addressing the required skills / knowledge to info@yandinacommunitygardens.com.au we look forward to hearing from you!

Applications close 14th February 2020.

Wild Mint (Native River Mint, Wild Mint or Poang-gurk)

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Mentha Australis (Native River Mint – aka Wild Mint)
Aboriginal name: Poang-gurk
Where will you find it: Widespread throughout Australia, particularly in inland areas. Usually found near rivers and creeks
Plant Type: Ground cover, clumping perennial
Preferred Climate: Sub-tropical, warm temperate (Summer growing)
Mentha Australis is a smaller, more delicate relative of the well-known mints peppermint and spearmint. This species of mint grows about 30cm high and 100cm wide, but can expand much further if allowed to run wild. Propagation is easy from cuttings and seeds can be slow to germinate. To harvest, pluck the leaves off the growing plant or prune whole stalks at a time. Like other mints, it grows relatively fast and will need regular pruning to keep tidy.
Leaves may be used fresh, or chopped and dried for later use. Just remember the aroma and flavour in harvested leaves will fade over time. It has long been used in Aboriginal culture as a flavoursome bushfood, insect repellent and medicinal herb. Can also be used to make an interesting mint tea, which is reputedly good for easing the effects of colds.

Are you our next Treasurer? Would you like to be part of our Management Committee?

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We are looking for an experienced treasurer to join our Management committee, if you have experience in accountancy or finances, are well organised and you are willing to donate your time to our Volunteer based organization, you could be our next treasurer. If you want to join a group of like minded individuals who are passionate about Permaculture and want to continue the legacy of Yandina Community gardens for another 20 years and make a real difference in our Communities then please get in touch.
You will be required to be a current paid member of YCG to nominate yourself.
If you’d like to find out more or apply for the role please contact Donna at secretary@yandinacommunitygardens.com.au  
A little about the role:
The Treasurer is responsible for the financial supervision of the organisation to allow the committee to provide good governance. The Treasurer is the chief financial management officer whose tasks include the preparation of annual budgets, planning for the organisations financial future and monitoring the organisations revenue and expenditure. It is desirable that the treasurer is well organized and possesses a level of financial expertise.
Desirable Attributes
  • • Good organisational skills
  • • Has some financial expertise
  • • Ability to maintain accurate records
  • • Honest/trustworthy
  • • Good communication skills

Legal Duties

  • The following legal duties apply to all members of an Incorporated Association Board
    • the duty to act in good faith in the best interests of the organisation and for a proper purpose
    • the duty to act with reasonable care, skill and diligence (including the duty to prevent insolvent trading)
    • the duty not to improperly use information or position, and
    • the duty to disclose and manage conflicts of interest.
Specific duties include but are not limited to
  • Upholding and acting in the spirit and intent of the YCG Code of Conduct
    • Provide advice to the committee in their management of the organisation finances
    • Administer all financial affairs of the organisation
    • Lead the annual budget process and ensure an appropriate annual budget is provided to the committee for approval
    • Ensure development and committee review of financial systems, policies and procedures
    • Support any required auditing processes
    • Ensure all controls are in place for incoming and outgoing monies
    • Ensure accurate records are maintained of all income and expenditure
    • Ensure that all receipts and payments concur with bank deposits and withdrawals
    • Be a signatory on committee account

 

 

Intensive Fruit Orchard at Yandina Community Gardens

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Colleen, YCG President, was inspired after researching intensive orchards in small areas, as practiced in Europe and the US, to try this in our gardens. We submitted a grant application to celebrate the Sunshine Coast’s 40th Birthday celebrations, in May 2017, and the Sunshine Coast Council approved $700 to cover the costs of trees, netting and the construction of an espalier.

This is an example of espalier method with a fruit tree in Europe…

We wanted to demonstrate that growing a variety of fruit trees is possible even in an average back yard by planting them very close together and that espaliers usually associated with apples and pears can be applied to sub-tropical fruit trees such as custard apples and mangos.

The design for the intensive orchard followed the recommendations set out by the Dave Wilson Nursery in California (https://www.davewilson.com/home-gardens/backyard-orchard-culture).

Renate, a regular volunteer, researched fruit tree varieties that are suitable for our climate (low-chill) and can be grouped close together. We planted three groups of trees (apples & plums, stone fruit, and sub-tropicals) which will be kept pruned to “head-height” for ease of harvest and to encourage air flow.

Trees were sourced locally from Oasis Fruit Trees, Sunray Nursery, Coles Creek. They included a Sun Snow and Sundowner Nectarine, China Flat and Tropic Beauty Peach, Anna and Dorset Apple, Early Blood Plum, Fuyu Persimmon, Carambola, Bengal Lychee, Longan, and Feijoa. The Nam Doc Mai Mango and African Pride Custard Apple were planted against the post and wire fence.

 

 

Some of our Volunteers with our first harvest in November 2019

Funds were approved late June 2017 after volunteers had already dismantled and removed the old besser-block raised garden beds. We then planted a cover crop in preparation for the fruit trees that were planted during Spring/Summer 2017. West Indian Lemon Grass surrounds the beds.

Renate oversaw tip pruning of the trees and in October 2019 we were able to cover the peaches and nectarines with wildlife-friendly netting to enjoy a prolific and delicious harvest during November.

Nets are now off and when the rain returns trees will be well-pruned (back to head height) and well fertilised with worm juice, compost, and a bit of potassium ready for next year’s crop.

Saturday, 15 February 2020, 9-11am, Zero Input Veggies with Shane Simonsen

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People have grown vegetables for thousands of years, but how did they do so before the age of irrigation on tap and mulch/manure by the truck load? More recently the process has become even more input intensive with the proliferation of greenhouses, hydroponics, sprays and plastic everywhere.

Cultivation systems exist on a spectrum from intensive (that use many inputs sourced from far away) through to extensive (that use less inputs but rely on more time and space). This workshop explores the rediscovery of these zero input systems for growing autumn vegetables in the sunshine coast hinterland environment that rely on natural rainfall, on farm fertility inputs, hand tools and extensive crop trialing and breeding to find plants suitable for zero input agriculture.

Book here:

About the Presenter:

 

 

 

 

I am a lifelong plant nerd that has grown just about everything I could get my hands on from a very young age. As a child I took over my mother’s flower garden just as drought and water restrictions became a fact of life. I decided to stop all irrigation and only grow species that thrived on natural rainfall. That work was featured on Gardening Australia.

After a career as an academic and science teacher I retired early to a slice of ex-dairy farm in the Sunshine Coast hinterland with a new focus on sustainable agricultural systems. Here I am working steadily to trial, select and breed new plants with a particular focus on hardy staple crops that can supply essential calories. I am also working on integrating food producing trees with my beloved geese and goats.

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biochar chop & drop compost composting Edible Greens edible leaves edible seeds edible tubers Event food waste food waste loop ground cover insect attracting Kids event Kids program know your plants Learning Living sustainably Management Committee medicinal plants medicine member event Morag Gamble native stingless bees Nutrient Dense Food Open garden visit Permaculture Plant plants Recipe Recipes Subtropical Greens Support plants Sustainable Building sustainable living Tropical greens volunteer water plant Wax-wrap making wax-wraps Workshop workshops Worm Farming Yandina Community Garden Yandina community Gardens

Permaculture People

Elizabeth Fekonia - Permaculture Real Food
Anne Gibson - The Micro Gardener
Morag Gamble - Our Permaculture Life
Dee Humphreys - Eatin Garden Edible Garden Tours

Acknowledgement of country

Yandina Community Gardens acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Owners of the land, the Gubbi Gubbi (Kabi Kabi) people, past and present and emerging. We recognise and wish to learn from their spiritual and cultural connection to the land.