Chris at work

Mackie Lane has lighting! Chris, ably assisted by Peter and Diana, installed the solar panels at Mackie Lane and our monthly Management Meeting was held there on Wednesday 20^th May.  Thanks to Mosman Council for the 2014/2015 Grant which made this possible. We will now be able to have lighting for our socials, meetings and other events.  The Stop Press News is that plastic screens have been added to the Rotunda, meaning the whole structure is now virtually weatherproof.  Please see our guidelines on availability.

You can’t have missed the new Plant Nursery being erected between Mackie Lane and Military Road.  This is to be Honeysuckle Nursery. Peter Hook, Gill and Chris Lee have been working hard negotiating various aspects of the build which affected our garden, such as new water pipes with a meter, our water being switched off and the building of a concrete platform abutting our adjoining fence which seriously impacted on our run-off from the rain.  All the problems have been calmly and efficiently sorted out.  We do hope that the opening of the Nursery will bring added interest to the garden.

Dana (right) giving Lilian a donation from the Mosman Climate Challenge Group

On 1^st April Mosman Climate Challenge Group, a long time supporter, disbanded and a donation of $400 was made to MCG.  The intention is to spend the money on much needed tools for both gardens.

Mackie Lane is full of Autumn/Winter plantings we look forward to harvesting in the coming months.  This cooler weather makes it ideal for gardening. We now have a the added bonus of a pump to help out with the watering.

In the beautiful surroundings of Middle Head the garden continues to flourish.  If you haven’t been there, do pop along, it’s open every day.  We were lucky enough to have beds made from old signposts so our beds are labelled Gates Close & Store Beach, although some of the signs have rotted through and need replacing.  Mel (National Parks and Wildlife Service)  has assured us that there are more available.

Mel’s initiative of inviting Asylum seekers to Middle Head on a regular basis has started up again until mid August. Each Friday different groups will arrive and help out with weeding, painting, and so on, at the Georges’ Head forts, followed by lunch and talks from various agencies.  If you would like to attend you can get details from Lilian or Gill or email mosmancommunitygardeners@gmail.com 

In April poppy making workshops were held to commemorate this very special Anzac Day and was well attended.  We knitted, crocheted and fashioned poppies from felt and the resultant poppies were displayed at Mackie Lane inside our beautiful Rotunda.  One of the attendees, Jill Swart, a well-known local artist, gave us photocopies of photos she has of her father and Uncle who both served in WW1, which added a very personal touch to our tribute. Some of our poppies went to Glengarry Twilight Care who formed the poppies into the number 100.

Making poppies in the Rotunda!

Refurbishing the winter beds

“Mackie Lane Community Garden is a hidden oasis in Mosman bursting with flowers, vegetables and ornamentals giving the artist a rich variety of patterns and textures to work with” is the way Mosman Community College promotes the second Botanical Art classes which run though April and May. Need we say more?

On the third Friday every month since July 2014 we find suitable foliage and greenery to take along to Mosman Council’s Carers’ Café.  We’ve been assured that the produce we take makes the “whole place smell nice” and invokes pleasant memories.  May’s contribution included basil flowers, pineapple sage, native mint, correa, tarragon flowers, cosmos and flowering pak choi, collected from Middle Head and Mackie Lane gardens.

Dinner at Dragoncello

Roy McVeigh, one of our members, has recently opened his own restaurant, Dragoncello, in Surry Hills.  Roy and Esther invited members to a degustation dinner where we were treated to an absolute feast.  Roy gleans produce from our gardens for his food, and forages for weeds and conjures up imaginative food and flavours. If you missed out this time, look out for the next invitation.

Almost ready

Plenty to offer

Mosman Council has given us a free stall at Mosman market for June and July; this gives us an excellent opportunity to showcase MCG to the wider community.  The first will be on Saturday 6^th June from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. There are working bees at both gardens to get produce ready on the Friday before. Please help out if you can this month, visit the stall or put forward your name for July.

We intend to have leeks and herbs available for samples, photographs, maps of our gardens and our friendly members on hand to advise and chat.

As well as the continuing our association with Middle Harbour School, whose lovely scarecrow was battered by the recent storms, we had a visit from our nearby Northern Nursery School. This was such a success that the visits will be repeated and MCG has been invited to view their Community Garden next term.

As always, none of this could happen without the dedication of members.  We must also thank Mosman Council and Ausgrid for their continued support.

Leeks galore

Happy gardening!