As a community organisation we are very fortunate to be recipients of gifts and donations from various levels of government and private organisations and businesses. One such business is DRAKE SUPA IGA, ROCHEDALE. This business very kindly offered to support our community organisation by supplying community dollars as a result of when customers swipe a dedicated tag at the checkout. If you are a resident in the Rochedale area and grocery shop at Drake Supa IGA  Rochedale and require a tag to support our organisation please contact Graham on 0413 698 030 for your tag.

On behalf of Rochedale Community Garden I would like to express our appreciation for the generosity and support of this local business, DRAKE SUPA IGA, ROCHEDALE.

On the second Saturday of each month we welcome visitors to Rochedale Community Garden. Residents and friends of our community are welcomed from 7:30 AM through to 12 noon. This is an ideal opportunity to enjoy the organic feel of the garden and to liaise with our members as you walk through the green splendour of Rochedale Community Garden. You are quite welcome also to “get your hands dirty”!! Bring your garden gloves and a hat and enjoy the feel of organic growth!!

Congratulations to Rochedale Community Garden Member, Steve Griffin who received the Southside Enviroment Award at the 2016 Queensland Day Southside Community Awards event on 4th June.

Steve who generously donated a portion of land from his own property in 2012 has been an integral member of Rochedale Community Garden donating not only the land but his time and home facilities to make Rochedale Community Garden an asset to the local community.

Steve received his award from local MP, Ian Walker. An award well earned!!!

At this time of the year as gardeners we can experience days catergorised as sizzlers!! With the high temperatures this can restrict the time we can we spend on our gardening duties. The opportune times to perform our gardening duties is either early morning or late afternoon or both if you have the time.

Recently, members of Rochedale Community Garden came together to experience another type of sizzler. On 8th February Bunnings Underwood provided the space and equipment to Rochedale Community Garden to provide a Sausage Sizzle to Bunnings’ customers. The response from the customers was overwhelming! The number of times the question “Would you like onion with that?” was incredible! Needless to say that at the end of the day there were very tired members but all very happy with the day’s results!

A big thankyou to Bunnings Underwood for their generosity in providing the space and equipment to our community organisation!!

As we recover from end of year celebrations it is time to start planning the garden for 2014.

With all the hot weather we have experienced in South East Queensland recently it is time to take stock in our garden. How have the Summer plantings coped? If the plants are looking “a bit the worse for wear” then it is time to make the decision to commence preparation for the Autumn plantings.

At Rochedale Community Garden the members will be planning their Autumn plantings in January. Planting green manure crops is on the agenda. This planting will add much needed nitrogen to the soil to produce an abundant crop of vegetables over Autumn and Winter. Other nutrients including compost will also be added to the soil.

Keep checking our website to find out the condition of the plants!

You know when the festive season comes to an end when the Santa hats on the scarecrows are replaced by old caps!!

Happy Planting!!

There is no better time to enjoy your garden than the warming months of Spring!! This fact was truly evident at the Springtime In The Garden celebrations on 19th October at our community garden. The gardens were in full production and the weather was perfect to exhibit the pleasures of Rochedale Community Garden. The visitors were totally engrossed in what was on show!!

The visitors were able to take home freshly picked garden produce with a “gold coin” donation. There was also unusual produce to sample like Jaboticaba fruit otherwise known as Brazilian Grape Tree. Workshops were on display including small wicking beds in broccoli boxes and visitors were shown how honey is harvested from our stingless native bee hive.

There was also time to relax and have that tea or coffee or sausage sizzle while listening to the jazz band.

What a wonderful afternoon for the community to come together and celebrate the wonders of nature!!!

It is that time of the year when we all love to get out in the garden whether it is your home garden or the community garden! There is so much to do preparing your garden for Spring plantings!

At Rochedale Community Garden our members see it as a time to celebrate the coming of Spring and what better way then to hold an afternoon celebration where you can listen to jazz music in the background as you walk around the bountiful garden and be shown nature’s splendour or sit down with your cuppa and sausage sizzle and take in the wonders of nature. Springtime in the Garden Flyer

September was a busy month at Rochedale Community Gardens including visits from various local organisations and continuing the upgrading of the garden facilities. Garden members were also fortunate to include 2 workshops in our busy schedule.

The first workshop was conducted on 8th September by Helen Schwencke, director of Earthling Enterprises Pty Ltd on “BUTTERFLIES AND HOST PLANTS IN YOUR GARDEN”. The workshop covered the importance of attracting butterflies to your garden to maintain pollination of the plants and also importantly to maintain the next generation of butterflies many of which are disappearing from our gardens. The plants necessary to maintain the butterflies are important additions to the gardens.

The second workshop was conducted on 15th September by Dan Willmann, director of Rocky Point Mulching on “HOW TO PREPARE YOUR GARDEN FOR SPRING PLANTING”. The phrase “preparation, preparation, preparation” was the theme which entailed what was necessary to include in the garden and how and when. The use of sugar cane mulch on growing gardens as well as fallow gardens was also highlighted.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

The day may have been wet and overcast but the feeling at the first birthday celebrations was anything but damp and dreary. People turned up armed with their umbrellas and raincoats as well as a sunny disposition to help Rochedale Community Garden celebrate its first birthday celebrations!!!

Attendees enjoyed the sausage sizzle, cafe and listening to the jazz trio. There was also the opportunity to buy home-made craft, jams, condiments and plants. Those brave enough also participated in a conducted tour of the garden.

It wouldn’t be a birthday party without a birthday cake. Thankyou to Alderman Schrinner and MP Ross Vasta for doing the honours in cutting the cake. The final part of our celebrations was the cutting of the ribbon by Alderman Schrinner to open the newly installed compost toilet – ROGER short for Rochedale Organic Garden Excrement Recycler!!

Where did those past 12 months go??? Looking forward to the next 12 months with eager anticipation!!

The last couple of months has been very busy at Rochedale Community Garden both in the garden and establishing the infrastructure which is making Rochedale Community  Garden such a vibrant location in the community.

The vibrancy was no more evident than in the gardening workshops that have been held. In February a workshop on “How to make a Wicking Bed” was held. The attendees went away armed with the knowledge of not only growing their garden but importantly how to save water in doing so.

The workshop on “How to establish a worm-farm” was so popular that a workshop was held in March followed by another workshop in the school holidays in April. It was great to see our future gardeners get their small fingers dirty and to experience the enthusiasm emanating from the little faces was awe-inspiring.

If you missed out on the workshop, “How to establish a worm-farm” don’t worry you can have a one-on-one workshop any Sunday afternoon or Wednesday morning. Go to the workshops page on this website and follow the prompts.

In the meantime, HAPPY GARDENING!!!