Collingwood Children's Farm
Collingwood Children's Farm is located in
Abbotsford on a seven hectare site next to the
River Yarra. The large site means that the
facilities are well spaced out. The farm gives
children plenty of opportunity to get close to the
animals, helping to feed them and collect eggs from
the hens - and even milk the cows!
There is a rare breeds project at Collingwood as
well.
Close to the entrance there are community
gardens, featuring very small plots which are
fenced in and kept locked. The gardeners I spoke to
had mostly come to Australia from Greece and Italy,
and were very pleased with the variety and quality
of the salad crops they are able to grow. And no
wonder. The soil looked very good and must have
been, judging by what was growing. You'd need
stilts to pick the runner beans! The tomatoes were
up to six feet tall and if all the flowers turned
into tomatoes the trusses would have to be
supported.
You can also buy plants, and there is a pleasant
walking path which gives you the opportunity to
view some of the native flora of the area close up
...
Collingwood Children's Farm is open from
9 am to 5 pm, and there is an entrance fee.
No charge for scarecrows!
Ceres Environmental Park
Ceres
Environmental Park is located in Brunswick on a
four hectare site next to the Merri Creek. Like
Collingwood Children's Farm it is very well run,
with a good supply of volunteers. The cafe and play
area attract visitors from afar but especially from
the housing estates in the surrounding area. The
farm shop was not open on the day I visited, but I
was told that it is very good and well supported.
Recycling seems to be one of the main activities
in the Park. There were demonstrations of
composting, and reuse of broken crockery for
mosaics. New bicycles were being put together from
spare parts salvaged from scrapped machines.
The community gardens were very attractive,
though again the individual plots were very small
compared to the standard allotment in the UK (only
about 4 meters square!). Here gardeners mostly from
Greece, Italy and Asia were growing runner beans,
tomatoes, beet and lettuce, with bush marrows
trailing up the fence to save space.
Ceres Environmental Park also has a bushfoods
and permaculture nursery, and a Saturday organic
food and craft market. It is open from 9 am until
dusk. Ceres Environmental Park can be contacted by
e-mail.
Bundorra Park
Before leaving Melbourne I visited Bundorra Park
in Brunswick, which includes a garden designed for
persons with disabilities. The garden is quite
small, and located on the side of a tennis court
and car park. Construction of the garden began
about fifteen 15 years ago, and it now has lots of
walkways made up of bricks suitable for
wheelchairs. The sensory garden is well established
and needs very little looking after: lots of raised
beds in a large circle. Tons of earth had to be
brought in to fill the raised beds. Lots of
vegetables were being grown, and there as a long
walkway of flower beds. Plants and shrubs are sold
to raise money for the garden. It has a canteen,
and volunteers are always welcome to help out.
As with many community farms and gardens, there
is an ongoing fight to protect the site from
development. Special credit for helping to save
these gardens goes to Kelvin Hines.
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