Hello Gardeners

We are getting to that time of the year when we can relax a little and enjoy the garden. The Spring Open Day is completed, summer planting is well under way and the garden is flourishing. From now until the new year, our attention is dedicated to ensuring that all our plants prosper and yield a bounty of summer produce for garden members.

Read on to see what’s been happening and events we have planned for the rest of the year. Also make sure you read the information on changes to general membership.

Whats Been Happening

**Spring Open Day**

The Spring Open Day was a lively celebration of community and gardening! It was wonderful to see everyone come together to support the community garden.
The success of the North Brighton Community Garden's Spring Open Day showcased the essential contributions of our garden members. Their steadfast dedication and hard work were crucial to the event's success. They played a key role in preparing for the day, organising activities, and ensuring a warm welcome for all attendees.
The enthusiastic participation of the garden members not only made the day enjoyable for everyone but also strengthened community bonds. We extend our sincere gratitude to each member for their significant contributions, which helped make the event both delightful and successful.
And to everyone who attended the event and supported the garden, thank you!

Acknowledgement of Supporters of the Spring Open Day

In addition to our garden members, we were grateful for the support from local businesses and individuals, whom we would like to acknowledge and thank for their generosity.

Becks Bakehouse Somerton Park - Bread for sausage sizzle
Mitre 10 Brighton - raffle prize
Jurlique - raffle prize
Patritti Wines - raffle prize
Seasol - raffle prize
SA Composters - raffle prize
Sarah Andrews MP - raffle prize & printing
Bunnings Marion - raffle prize
Sue Norman - Floral mandalas children’s activity
Brighton Foodland - voucher towards sausages
Two Fat Bloke Pizzas - lent a lot of tables, marquees & other equipment for the day
Community members who donated baked goods, fostered plants and or donated goods to sell.

Annual geneal meeting

Annual General Meeting

We kicked off with the Chairperson's report, highlighting our garden achievements over the past year, followed by the Treasurer's report. The committee for 2025 has been elected, and the members are as follows:

Chairperson: Beau
Vice Chair: Lisa (until a replacement is found*)
Treasurer: Jay
Secretary: Sam
Member Representative: Miranda
Plot Holder Representative: Gloria
General Members: Kiki, Deb, Janet, and Chris

*If you're interested in joining the committee, it's not too late! Please let us know. Do you enjoy posting on social media, writing newsletters or organising, and would like to help with any of these tasks please let us know.

A big thank you to retiring committee members, Barbara & Jurgen. Your help and support in running the garden was very much appreciated.

**Cooking Demonstration**

After the AGM we were treated to a cooking demonstration by Richard & Neil. They prepared a meal based on what was available in the garden. Anyone with a vegetable garden will know it’s the time of the year when there is not a lot available, the winter veg has finished and the summer veg are just starting. They did an amazing job of creating a very tasty healthy spread with what was available. It was great to see the garden BBQ being used for something other than sausages.
Richard also shared homemade sourdough and flat bread that was cooked on the BBQ. Neil cooked up a frittata using eggs from his chickens and the scraps from the vegies, including carrot tops, ensuring no waste.
We are hoping to hold more of these types of events, maybe one for each season. Let us know if this is something you would be interested in helping with.

**Happy 5th Birthday to our community garden**

After eating a wonderful healthy meal, it was time to celebrate the garden’s 5th birthday. A friend of the garden made a beautiful garden inspired birthday cake. Not only did it look amazing (the whole cake was edible), it tasted just as good.
Looking forward to seeing what the next 5 years brings for the garden.

Changes to Garden General Membership

Membership Year

Membership year has been changed to: 1 January to 31 December (was 1st October to 30th September). All current members will have their membership extended to 1st January 2025.

General Member Fee

It was voted at the AGM that the General membership fee will increase from $10 to $15 per year for a household from 1st January.

New terms of General Membership

During the membership year, garden members are expected to contribute to the garden in a way that is suitable for their abilities.

The new policy for garden members to contribute according to their abilities is a positive step towards inclusivity and shared responsibility. It allows each member to participate in a manner that respects their individual capabilities, fostering a sense of belonging and teamwork. This approach not only distributes the workload more evenly but also enhances the community spirit by involving everyone in the upkeep and development of the garden. It's a great way to ensure that the garden thrives and remains a source of pride for all members. Not sure how you can contribute, please contact us or speak to one of the committee members.

By paying the new year membership fee, existing members are deemed to have agreed to the new membership terms.

Examples of way members can help:

Attend working bee or after morning tea- there are usually a variety of tasks that need to be done. These tasks can also be done at other times outside of working bees.

Help with setup/pack up of Wednesday morning tea.

Find it hard to attend to the garden, there are ways to help form home, for example, help with posting on Facebook and Instagram, help with newsletter – individual stories or creating the newsletter. Help with applying for grants.

Contribute to an Open Day, for example, help with plant propagation, planning, sourcing equipment for the day, getting ready before the day, volunteer on the day, organise the day, with signs, help with flyers.

Share knowledge at workshops, this could include cooking, plant related, arts & craft or any other subjects related to the garden.

Arts & Craft for garden, create items at home, lead workshops, contribute to Arts & Craft project.

Help with a project, for example:

Seed library: collect, sort & store seeds, manage seeds being available for garden members.
Book library: build structure that can hold garden books and seed library, decorate structure, keep library tidy.
Children’s Garden: keep gardens tidy & watered, add new items to it.
Worm Farm: create worm farm in communal area of garden, create education signs for worm farm, look after worm farm.
One off projects: come up with ideas and present to committee, help implement projects
Join the committee, we are always looking for new people to join the committee to help with the management of the garden
Rubbish bins – taking out and bringing in
Help with planning and looking after communal garden beds. Help look after different parts of the garden.