By: Mello Edwards from Mullumbimby Community Garden
Mullumbimby’s Community Garden is a flourishing slice of abundance that has been transformed by volunteers over seven years from an idea, and a weedy paddock, into two hectares of beauty and productivity.
In the 40-bed section called Food For All you can pick what is in season and leave a donation. The Children’s Garden provides a safe place for mothers and babies (some fathers too) to have a singalong, while the little people enjoy some of the fruit from that fenced area, under the shade.
Flower beds and maturing fruit trees add to the beauty for everyone. There are more than 50 allotments, so members can have their own private gardens with all the hand tools, irrigation, fertiliser and mulch onsite too.
A couple of dedicated organic producers lease considerable areas of the garden, and produce a whole range of vital organic vegetables. The whole place is organic; of course we use no chemicals whatsoever. Even the paints used for artistic signage re Eco-paints.
We recycle all our green waste, plus some scraps from Santos, in locally sourced manures. There are ceremony lawns with a beautiful bamboo shelter, a hexagonal beehive, a bee expert who gives workshops, and a small ‘market garden’ where we sell produce as a fundraiser.
The Rotunda is a lovely seven-sided space used for workshops, and is also the community hub for lunchtimes and meetings. Yoga, Hearts Song, gardening workshops, and acoustic music gatherings are all offered here at a small cost. The local permaculture courses are all run here too, with 30 or more students gaining a wide variety of hands-on learning over a nine-month course.
The gardens grow most of their own seedlings, too, and always have a range of healthy locally grown seedlings and plants for sale, just inside the front entrance.
Visioning Day
Everyone is welcome at the Visioning Day on Saturday 26 November from 10am till 3pm.
Come and participate in upgrading our collective vision about future developments, governance, and artistic potentials here. All are welcome, as we really want our community to feel empowered and own our gardens.
Let’s take this to even greater heights as a food source for the community with ambience that reflects our unique local culture.
Well done people’s and Mello of Mullimbimby. What an achievement. Good to read there is a little ones area too. Cheers Patrice of Burleigh heads.