One of our favourite times of the year at Yandina Community Gardens is when our members come together to celebrate what we have achieved for the year. This year’s event was no exception as we fired up the cob oven and shared a delightful meal together we also had occasion to plant a tree in memory of Bill Mollison, launch our intensive orchard garden, new website and give a special award to a long-standing member and contributor to the gardens.

Last year with the passing of Bill Mollison his widow requested that all the Permaculture organisations plant a tree in his memory. We now have a beautiful Black Sapote in our orchard that will forever remind us of his incredible contribution to sustainable living. One of his quotes that lie dear to our heart at YCG is.

“The greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production, even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this, there is enough for everyone”.

We also celebrated the launch of our intensive orchard garden that was made possible by the Sunshine Coast Council grant for their 50th-year birthday celebration. This garden showcases how to build a productive orchard in a very small space.

For some time we have recognised as a management committee that if we are going to extend our influence with regard to sustainable living beyond our own community we need to transform our website. This work was done in the last 3 months of the year and we would particularly like to thank Christa Louw (our IT volunteer) for the technical support in this regard. Our website has now come of age with WOO commerce, just to mention one new feature, that allows workshop attendees to book and pay for workshops online.

Our organisation would not exist without the dedication of many volunteers and we are particularly grateful to people who have made a long-term commitment to YCG. Each year the Committee will be recognising such people and this year we recognised Dave Clark, who has tirelessly supported YCG. Dave who is exceptionally knowledgeable in Permaculture design and did his Permaculture training with Bill Mollison in the early days has been with YCG since its inception. Thanks Dave for your contribution and dedication to our beautiful community space.

Some of our members who attended the event had this to say…

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the Saturday morning workshops and I have gained many skills at YCC.” Louise White

“The YCG is an inspiration. So fantastic to see so many working for a healthy sustainable future. Very educational and a great asset to the community.” Meri Luke

“YCG is a fantastic place for people to learn about growing their own healthy food and sustainability. Many volunteers put in many hours to make YCG the great resource and community that it is. It was fantastic today to see YCG volunteers recognised with the help of Sunshine Coast Council.”

“Great pizzas, great people; beautiful gardens and great opportunity to keep learning about living an organic lifestyle.” -Petra

“Wonderful to know wonderful people surrounded by gardens of beauty and wholesomeness.” – Myshell

“I love coming to these gardens! Such good people, terrific workshops, wonderfully lush plants. So much knowledge gets passed on and great concept – there should be more of them.” – Jan L

“Yandina Community Gardens is an integral and very happy part of my life. It invigorates me and I love the people involved in the gardens. Also, we learn how to care for our natural heritage to preserve our planet for our children.” – Pam P

“It’s been a pleasure to be a part of this community garden which I hope will grow with more community awareness and be appreciated by all.” – Andrew

“Yandina Community Gardens provides such a welcome respite – an oasis of learning, creativity, and community. I look forward to each visit and feel very grateful for the people who enable the opportunities afforded to me through its existence.” – Jenny L