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Volume 18/10 November 2018 ugcnews@gmail.com P.O. Box 580 Murwillumbah 2484

http://ukigarden.club/wp/

Spring is drawing to a close and already we have been reminded of the hot summer months ahead of us with some high temperatures both during the day and overnight recently. The lawn mowers have been buzzing into activity after a long rest and our gardens have been revived by the large rainfall we gratefully received late in October. More Jacarandas are coming into bloom as are massive bushes of Tibouchina. Their violet, lavender and white flowers certainly brighten up Spring gardens. (beautiful pic at right from Gillian & John’s garden)

We should also be so very grateful for the gloriously green lush pastures we now see in the Tweed Valley and count our blessings that we are not in the drought stricken areas to the west in our state and in Queensland. Yes, the rain has made the weeds grow even faster, but we should not complain, considering our envied situation!

Our thanks go to Helen and Stephen (as well as Helen’s parents) for hosting such a well-attended October Garden Gathering near Stokers Siding. Attendance was extremely high – I think we were all dying to get out after all the rainy days of previous weeks and enjoy some sunshine. And what a reward it was to be perched atop a knoll with a magnificent view of Wollumbin (Mt. Warning) standing stately as ever before us! The added bonus of being able to visit the garden of next-door neighbours, Allan and Barry, made it a wonderful afternoon of sharing together. I was so inspired by the enormous and productive vegetable beds that I went off and bought two new raised beds for my own very small backyard!

Many thanks also to Brigitte and Chris who generously hosted the Food Group at their home in Palmvale. They are an example of the generosity of our members – managing to have 25 of us for 2 hours at their home and garden, even though they were to leave for a Vietnam holiday only 7 hours later!

It was good to see several new members rolling up to Food Group as well as to the Saturday gatherings this month. Our very special garden club just seems to keep on growing (not quite as fast as our weeds thank goodness)!

Looking ahead, we are approaching the Christmas season rapidly, so make sure you have November 24th marked in your diaries. Remember there will be no swap table at the Christmas party. Instead, we all bring a gift (home-made or grown or bought, whatever you find easiest) and receive one in return via a ticket system. On your arrival at Don and Sandy Capner’s home, hand your gifts to Jackie Balk who will be organising the giving table. Then make sure you see Axel and Hartmut (Ed. The cute guys in the fetching Santa hats) who will provide you with a drink (alcoholic or soft, your choice) in the glass you bring with you. Remember you need to bring all your own cutlery, plates, drinking vessels as well as a chair and of course, some food to share. Lyn O’Hara has prepared a huge Christmas hamper for the raffle prize – worth a good $100+ – so make sure you visit her at the raffle table. If you haven’t been to Don & Sandra’s wonderland before, be prepared to be amazed and inspired! It should be a wonderful day and a great finish to our 2018 Garden Gatherings. Starting time is 11.00 am.

Not to be outdone of course, our ‘Food Groupies’ party on into December, as usual. Their celebratory day is Tuesday December 11th and is to be held at Lyn Reid’s fabulous garden in Uki. Again, we bring food to share for lunch and all our own plates, cups, cutlery, chairs etc and start time is 11.00 am. I am particularly looking forward to this one as I haven’t been to Lyn’s famous garden before. All reports of it by other members have been glowing, so I am prepared to be very pleasantly surprised.

A very special Life Member, Merle Munsie will be staying with Lyn so she can come to this party. So do make sure you catch up with her on this rare visit back from her new home in Yandina (courtesy of chauffeur, Julia Hancock).

Best wishes for a safe and very happy Christmas season Gillian

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Who knew there would be such an amazing property up that long, steep driveway in Stokers Siding! Helen and Stephen Carter were our gracious hosts for the Garden Gathering on 27th October and despite their concerns about the recent wet weather, their garden was dry underfoot and a joy to behold.

The Carters have been on their five-acre property for approximately five years and although the 12-sided house had been renovated by the previous owner the block was a blank canvas on which to design their dream garden.

They love it, and so did we – in fact a record number of members turned up (I lost count at 50) and we filled the deck around their yurt plus the club’s shade tents which Don had thoughtfully brought along and erected.

The Carters don’t cultivate all five acres – they agist cattle on one of their paddocks and enjoy having such healthy beasts to admire.

We all agreed that their arrangement of sharing their vegie patch with neighbours Barry and Allan was an extremely good idea. Having extra hands to work, someone always around to water, and willing consumers of vegetable gluts is so sensible.

Pic above of the overflowing swap table

Pic below of part the fab vege patch

Pic below of new members Richard & Anamaya hiding

behind the ’Fordhook Giant’ silverbeet

Silver beet‘spinach

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• Hartmut has been battling with aphids on broad beans. How to cope? Try pyrethrum plus neem oil mixed with dishwashing liquid if you can’t hose them off the plants.

• Fay wondered how we all dispose of noxious weeds. Green bin, ‘weed tea’, solarise them by putting them in a black plastic bag in the sun

• Carolyn wanted to know whether a bisexual pawpaw will cross-pollinate a yellow-fruited female? No.

• Tim has a begonia which has grown very tall but is losing all its leaves. Probably caused by too much rain (begonias are quite drought-tolerant due to their succulent leaves). Give it a light prune and some liquid seaweed fertilizer and it will spring back. Plant out the pruned pieces to get more plants,

• Peter wondered why people still put down black weed mat, as it doesn’t seem to work. The consensus was that it shouldn’t be used as it does more harm than good and the weeds still grow (they are blown over the surface or are spread by animals and colonise the mulch over the weed mat). Also, rain doesn’t always permeate through the webbing and the soil subsequently becomes dry and devoid of worms and microbial activity. Weed mat is a menace and shouldn’t be used on garden beds, although it can be used to line hanging baskets.

• Fran brought in a plant for identification, and although John Bennett knew what it was he couldn’t remember its name. He’ll let us know. (Note from Ed: Philip identified it as a Pseuderanthemum seticalyx – or Shooting Star – pic at right. Mine was grown from a cutting obtained from the swap table some time ago)

• Fran has also lost all her Tuscan kale which has been nibbled down to the central stem. What has done this? Caterpillars – they love brassicas.

Pics below show some of the beauty that Helen and Stephen have created in their garden.

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Don has some choice specimens in his garden and this month’s standout is a Brownea macrophylla, which is rarely grown in these parts. It’s gorgeous bloom is vaguely similar to a rhododendron.

I took the opportunity to take a photo of the newly=painted boxes that Axel made and Jan painted. How great do they look? And also – how handy are they as urn stands too? You guys are the bestest! Fran

L: Helen & Stephen

R: Allan & Barry

And below are 2 more pics from the wondrous Carter garden. Thanks to Couz’n Lynn for her help with picture taking.

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The Food Group meeting was held at Brigitte and Chris Pritchard’s beautiful

property on the side of the hill at Palmvale. Their place is called ‘Mud Manor’

in honour of the mud bricks the family home is constructed from and as

Brigitte pointed out, that made it easy to do extensions as their family grew.

They bought the property in 1980 and moved up from Sydney in 1983.

There is no actual design to the garden - it grew with the family’s needs and

now they have the extra time to dedicate to it. Brigitte said if there is a space

and she can find a plant that fits, well, in it goes! Everybody had a great time

exploring their rambling and picturesque garden.

Ida: her garden has been taken over by weeds of all

kinds. At this time of year we all know what she is talking about.

Anamaya : came to live at Mt.Burrell a year ago from

Victoria and is on a steep learning curve on her 12 acres.

Bev: is waiting for a “man with a machine” to tame her

garden space before she gets down to the business of her permaculture-style garden.

Kim: wanted to know how to protect the bumper lychee crop from parrots. It was suggested she net part of the tree, but with a

warning that those pesky possums can get under the net and feed on your fine work!

Hartmut and Sue: their garden has gone to seed including the Guineafowl -- three hens are sitting on fifty eggs which is a bit

much! Swap table - dahlia corms (probably ‘Bishop of Llandaff’), with tall, purple foliage and big red flowers.

Grant: is having great success with his shredding of prunings to make mulch, mixing it with manure of all types and

composting it. He has had 90% success rate with his cuttings when dipped in honey and potted on the spot.

Buz and Bonnie: are busy revamping their vegetable garden as many of us find ourselves doing on the Tweed at one stage or

another. They are having great success with various green vegetables. Buzz was happy to find that "mulch covers many sins”!

Michael and Jackie: have many new garden beds and have been filling them with a variety of things including a yellow rock

melon. However, they are having trouble with lace bugs and nematodes eating the leaves of particularly the eggplants. Jackie

has tried spraying with pest oil. Other suggestions were to plant nasturtiums and Marigolds, sprinkle the leaves with

diatomaceous earth or DEcat litter or plain flour.

Peter and Marie: have a beautiful display of flowers in their garden including a 20 year old Waratah that only started flowering

5 years ago but has a magnificent display this year. Their vegetables are doing well as are the weeds.

Lyn: Don is going to do a demonstration on planting and care of bananas at the food group Christmas party next month at her

place. He will also prune a citrus tree.

Cathie: has dug up and stored her very successful potato crop

Sue: has put down some black plastic to try to get rid of an oxalis outbreak (Marigolds were suggested). Other than that her

garden is providing plenty of food for the family between the weeds.

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Dave and Bronwyn: are growing turmeric and a large patch of pumpkins. They have also noted that the stone-fruit trees that

were bulldozed together by the previous owner have not only survived but are thriving and have a large crop of fruit.

Kirsteen: all going well, just planting rosellas in a new garden

Desiree: needs more time and more watering in her garden. Don’t we all!!!

Sheila: the bush turkeys got into her new vegetable garden and destroyed it while she was away. She added that she went to

an excellent talk by Stephanie Alexander at Tweed Library last week and another one is coming up on the 22nd November by

another speaker on permaculture/sustainable practices (See flyer below from Richmond-Tweed Library).

Alex: has a good crop of cucumbers, strawberries and pumpkins.

Martin: has been away and came home to a jungle of weeds. He has started in the vegetable patch and is now looking for

things to plant.

Jenny and Jim: have 61/2 acres at near Stokers Siding with a big vegetable garden and many fruit trees.

Heather: has harvested nuts from her Candlenut tree (Aleurites moluccanus). They are toxic if eaten raw so boil or roast

before consuming. It is native to Asia, Southeast Asia and the tropics, and common in Northern Australia. It grows into a big

beautiful shade tree.

Gillian: was inspired by seeing the raised vegetable beds at the last Saturday gathering and has put a couple in. She has had

had a few unwanted visitors to one of her compost bins. One carpet snake scared John half to death and the rats got in and

ate the food scraps. No obvious entry point - must be tunnelling in somehow. Also the Ibis ate eating her lettuce. Plenty of

wildlife at Gillian’s, despite living on the edge of town above the Tweed River.

Nellmary’s garden is slowly getting back under control and continues to be very productive with tomatoes, asparagus,

peaches, mint, potatoes, greens and the end of the citrus.

(with thanks to Nellmary and Jackie Balk

for the pics.)

Enviable crops of garlic & cabbages

and the lovely hostess Brigitte with her

cute-as-can-be grandson Hector.

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Have you ever looked at your garden soon after a thunderstorm has passed? Did you notice that the plants looked brighter,

fresher, and greener? Many gardeners have probably wondered what causes this. Perhaps it is the fresh rainfall? Or maybe the

slightly cooler temperatures, maybe the humidity?

While all of these things have an effect on your vegetable garden plants, lightning is known to be a major factor in naturally

fertilizing plants, therefore giving your vegetable plants a quick boost of life.

Air is comprised of 78% nitrogen and about 20% oxygen. Nitrogen is an element that plants

need for chlorophyll production (which aids photosynthesis), foliage development, and

overall growth. It is usually the main ingredient in fertilizers. However, the nitrogen in air is

not in a usable form for most plants. So how do plants gain access to the nitrogen that is in

the air?

From lightning!

The intense heat and electric charges produced by lightning cause the nitrogen molecules

in the air to cling to the oxygen molecules. This bond forms nitrogen oxides. The nitrogen

oxides will either fall from the sky, or be collected by the rain drops, bringing a form of

soluble nitrogen that can now be used by the plants.

The plants now receive a super-charged dose of available nitrogen, causing them to become brighter, healthier, and greener.

So now there’s even more reason to enjoy those summer storms that are frequent visitors to the Tweed.

(Reproduced with thanks from www.veggiegardener.com)

This new nursery in Wollumbin Street has corrugated cardboard to give away. It makes excellent mulch.

Two young peacocks, a peacock “Bob” and a peahen “Pippin” have been living with their parents at our place since they were born

in January. Now Mum and Dad, Penny and Percy, want to start another family and are insisting their fully grown chicks leave the

roost. Is anyone interested in giving these spoilt children a home?

Below is Bob - he does not have the magnificent tail as this will come next year. His blue chest is the adult colour. If you are

interested in adopting Bob & Pippin please contact Kirsteen direct on 0400 494 567.

Below: the lovely family enjoying breakfast

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With the festive season nearly upon us, here are a number of recipes both savory and sweet that are easy to make and will be a

lovely addition to your celebratory tables.

The recipe makes great use of fresh spring herbs. The strong flavour goes well

with fish and potatoes.

• 2 cloves garlic

• 2 handfuls of Italian parsley

• 1 bunch of basil

• 1 handful of mint

• 10-12 capers

• small handful of gherkins, in sweet vinegar

• 6 good quality anchovy fillets

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

• 8 tablespoons olive oil

Peel the garlic and pick the herb leaves - chop finely on a large board with the capers, gherkins and anchovies.

Place in a bowl, add the mustard and vinegar, then slowly stir in the oil until you achieve the right consistency.

Taste and balance the flavours with black pepper, a bit of sea salt and maybe a little more vinegar.

Here’s a simple spinach recipe that is delicious.

• 50 gms butter

• Bunch spinach, kale, chard or a combo of all, very finely shredded

• fresh minced garlic to taste

• freshly grated nutmeg

• salt and ground black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot or pan. Add spinach and cook on medium for a few minutes, stirring gently. Add garlic and cook for

another few minutes till spinach is well cooked. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper and stir through. Great as a side dish for lamb or

chicken.

I use the stalks as well, chopped very finely - they’re delicious. I wash the spinach leaves, shake off excess water, roll them length-

ways then shred them very finely, like chiffonade. It’s a bit of effort to wash and shred like this but it’s worth it. This mixture can also

be added to a mix of ricotta, feta and parmesan, a couple of beaten eggs and some chopped cooked brown onion and raw green

onions. This mix makes a fabulous spanakopita filling, with filo pastry.

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It's shaping up to be a poor year for our mango crops. Consistent rain during October has meant that the pollinators which normally

visit these trees when in flower were not as active. Interestingly, mango blooms are not attractive to honeybees, rather they are

visited by many species of fly, as well as wasps, stingless bees and even ants. Although there will not be the usual glut over the

coming summer months, excess fruit to hand can be used in many ways, including being turned into chutneys, dried as a fruit

leather or de-cheeked and frozen for consumption all year round. Sue Yarrow kindly gave me a huge box of her richly flavoured

Nam Doc Mai mangoes last season, and once frozen I decided to make one of my favourite of all Indian sweets, Kulfi. While

superficially similar in appearance and taste to ice-cream, Kulfi is denser and creamier, traditional flavours being rose, cardamom,

saffron and pistachio. No whipping is required which results in a solid, dense frozen dessert which takes longer to melt than ice-

cream. It is easy to make and any basic kitchen will already have most of the ingredients and implements needed.

• three mangoes, de-cheeked and frozen

• 300 ml thickened cream

• one can of condensed milk

• seeds from four cardamom pods, crushed

• a handful of unsalted, shelled pistachio nuts, roughly chopped

Place mangoes, cream, condensed milk and cardamom into a food

processor and puree until smooth. As the mangoes are frozen already

this will be a heavier consistency. After blitzing, stir in the chopped

pistachio nuts. Spoon into a loaf tin and cover with either foil or baking

paper. Freeze overnight, and turn out onto a plate. Slice with a heavy

knife and serve on its own or add extra fresh fruit and pistachio crumbs.

Below are recipes for Frozen Banana dairy and sugar-free Ice cream. These ice creams are very yummy!

How to freeze bananas

1. Peel bananas and compost skins

2. Slice into 2.5-5 cm chunks.

3. Arrange in one layer on baking paper on a plate/baking tray.

4. Freeze for about 2 hours.

5. Transfer to Ziploc bags until ready to use.

(serves 1, so multiply for quantities to suit)

• 1-2 large bananas, frozen in chunks, as above

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract/essence

• pinch sea salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend. Scrape down sides.

Blend until it is really creamy.

Serve and eat!

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(serves 1, so scale up)

• 1-2 large bananas ,frozen in chunks

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract/essence

• pinch sea salt

• 2 Medjool dates, pitted

• 2 Tablespoons coconut cream

Blend bananas, sea salt and vanilla in blender. Scrape down sides.

Add dates and coconut cream and blend until creamy.

Transfer mixture to a freezer container, cover with plastic wrap or a lid. Freeze for about 3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes to

prevent ice crystals forming.

Allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

1. Replace dates with 1 tablespoon Nutella

2. Replace dates with 1/2 cup blueberries

3. Replace dates with 1/2 cup each cut-up strawberries and cooked rhubarb

4. Replace dates with 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

5. Blend 1 cup unsalted pistachios, 1 cup soaked cashews (drained), 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1

tablespoon coconut oil with 3 or 4 frozen bananas (serves 4)

Adapted from: Margie Broadhead, "Guilt-Free Nice Cream", 2017, Hardie Grant Books, Melbourne and London.

Members, David and Jenny Kidd (2nd and 3rd

from Right), represented Tumbulgum, when

their Community Association was presented

with a 2018 Community Resilience Award by

the Minister for Emergency Services Troy

Grant at Parliament House, Sydney.

The award recognised the quality of the

community led work undertaken since the

2017 Flood.

Congratulations to Jenny and David and the Tumbulgum Community Association for this well-deserved award.

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Hello UGC members!

Spring has sprung and if our garden is anything to go by, many food plants I planted some time ago have now gone to seed and I

am starting to harvest seeds.

I would like to encourage you to save seeds from the various food plants and flowers that you have enjoyed, let the seeds dry out

properly, seal them in a paper envelope and bring them to the next UGC meeting for putting into the UGC seed box (or use

yourself!). This way other Club members can benefit from the experience you gained by growing these plants and can also enjoy

them by planting your seeds in their gardens.

On the envelope write

1. # your name

2. # the date harvested

3. # the name of the plant

4. # and any additional information that could help the next person who wants to plant those seeds (for example, plant in

full sun or partial shade, very thirsty and needing more watering, and so on)

I look forward to receiving lots of full envelopes from you for us to share around to other members!

This is taken from the New Scientist, 3 March 2018. It is the last paragraph in an article by NS Deputy Editor, Penny Sarchet titled

"Growing Skills", and it really struck a chord with me.

"And finally … your happy place. They say gardening makes you more cheerful and healthier. YEP! For starters, gardens

practically make you younger. A 2003 study in the Netherlands found that having 10 per cent more green space in your

surroundings brings health improvements roughly equivalent to being five years younger, even when other possible influences like

socio-economic status are taken into account. Several studies have found that people who tend allotments are healthier and have

higher self-esteem and well-being [than others in the same community] and that each session on their plot is linked to a decrease

in the level of the stress hormone cortisol.

So there's even more reason to get outside and get growing".

Thanks Sue! (and below some cartoons to also make you smile)

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Hampton Court in England was built by bishops and kings to compete with the gardens of the French court at Versailles. However,

they both have a lot to offer. The walled garden at Hampton court is exquisite but the hedges and dancing fountains, (yes, they

have them dancing to music) are amazing. Here are a few photos so you can make up your own mind. The first three are Hampton

Court and the rest Versailles.

Hampton Court Hampton Court

Hampton Court

Versailles

Versailles

Versailles

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Looking for something local to give as a gift – why not pop into the Caldera Wildscapes Gallery?

A 2019 Tweed calendar and a range of Seasons Greetings/Christmas cards showcasing the Tweed's superb landscapes and

biodiversity have been produced by local Caldera artists. Now available at the Caldera Wildscapes Gallery, the cards and calendar

depict artwork and photos of some of our iconic flora/fauna and scenes of Australia's Green Cauldron.

Also, by popular demand, gallery coordinator Andy Reimanis is also able to format and print personalised Christmas cards. "If you

would like to have your own images and personal greetings on cards to send to your friends/relatives, I can do so cost effectively"

he says: see card examples below.

Please support this initiative and assist local artists, visit the Caldera Wildscapes Gallery and see for yourself the excellent range of

cards and other lovely gift ideas that promote our region's biodiversity and landscape values.

Open 10am - 3pm, Tuesday - Saturday (closed Sundays and Mondays), the entrance to the upstairs gallery is adjacent to the

Court House Hotel (opposite the Court House) Main St., Murwillumbah.

For more info call Andy on 0499 009 888 or email info@calderaart.org au

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Nellmary’s beautiful Waratahs (above) and her avocado tree dripping with

fruit (at right)

And 2 pics from my garden – below an unusual flower that recently

appeared in my tropical frangipani near my clothesline (grown from a cutting

from Couz’n Lynn’s place – the frangiapani that is!)

And at right - a Jacaranda transported from Sydney in a scrap of

old curtain and gifted to us by a friend many years ago when just

a metre high is putting on a beautiful show along with the NSW

Christmas Bush on the bank near our house.

Fran

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Hooray, we've had rain so fertilize everything.

Prune perennials that are looking leggy to boost their performance over summer.

Tidy up the herb garden and fertilize with organic pellets and compost.

Prune azaleas and check for lace bug.

Sow sweet com, beans, capsicums, chillies, eggplants, pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, melons, squash and sweet

potatoes.

Sprinkle some lime on the lawn and water in well to sweeten the soil and keep the grass growing healthily.

Plant mangoes, pawpaws, passionfruit, avocado and figs in good, well-drained, compost soil. Water and mulch well.

Feed citrus and remove any dead branches or those that have been badly affected by gall wasp. Give the trees a

good soak before and after feeding and mulch.

Prune rambling roses and sprinkle some dolomite around the root zone.

Marigolds can cope with late summer heat and attract insects into the garden which are useful for cucurbits.

If we have more rain, feed the lawn - not to make it grow but to make it healthy enough to cope with the stresses of

heat and drought in the weeks to come.

Pruning is an excellent antidote to the stresses of Christmas but if you've got overgrown conifers remember that

they will never reshoot from bare wood. A regular trim is better for this group of evergreens.

Even good rain won’t soak into hydrophobic soils (i.e. those which have become so dry that water just runs off

them). It’s much better if you apply a soil wetting agent either before or during the rain event. It can be purchased as

a hose-on or in bottles for dilution and application with watering cans. Take the opportunity to do two jobs at once by

adding some liquid fertiliser to the solution.

Pick up and dispose of fallen fruit and rotted vegies before they attract fruit fly and other nuisance grubs.

Have you got containerised plants on your deck? If so, check underneath to see that nothing untoward is happening

i.e. an ant invasion or rotting timber. Both can cause a lot of damage if left to their own devices.

And remember to relax and have a wonderful silly season! Wishing garden gnomes everywhere a very happy 2019.

Poison alert - Don Capner advises that the white sap from pawpaws is toxic, so wash it off immediately if you get it on

your skin. In fact white sap exuded from any plant is toxic, so take care when handling these plants.

Here are some things which might fit the bill.

1. Organic herb seeds;

2. A proper dibble stick;

3. Gardener's hand cream;

4. Rubberised kneepads;

5. A holster for secateurs;

6. A rain gauge;

7. A thermometer;

8. Good gloves.

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David Hancox would love to receive pictures of insects in this area to use in their biological book. Email to biologicalconsultants@gmail.com

Tweed Shire Council is advertising a FREE field day on Tuesday, 27 November 2018, 9.30 for a 10.00 am start, finishing at 2.00 pm, at Brays Creek Road, Pumpenbil (location provided on registration).

Subject: Cultivating knowledge to build better soils for farmers and land managers interested in managing soils, our most fragile resource.

This is a welcome opportunity for UGC members to become more familiar with the natural resources on which our food and other plantings are based.

Speakers: Dr. David Morand: Soil landscapes of the Tweed and their land use capability

David Forrest: Improve understanding of your soils with the Northern Rivers Soil Health Card (including demonstration)

Graham Lancaster: What do all the numbers mean? Understanding soil chemical tests

Registration is essential — contact the Program Leader at eszandale@tweed.nsw.gov.au, ph: (02) 6670 2400

Lunch and refreshments provided. Please bring a chair, hat and any soil test results you would like to discuss with the facilitators.

Hartmut Holzknecht

As many of you know I’ve moved house this year.

There’s quite a wide road verge out the front even though I’m in suburbia & the verge is bisected by a wide pathway.

That means that, as well as my nature strip, there’s a piece of land between the pathway & the road which is virtually wasteland. No-one can cut across it to the path because of a wall on the upper side of the path. (Well, one man did just that, one night & went `splat’ over the 1 metre drop)!!

I spoke to Tweed Council guys re planting it up with natives. They would have loved to help but only grow large trees, unsuitable for a site close to power lines.

I’ve already bought & put in some smaller trees, & potted up whatever self-sown seedlings I can find, but would be grateful for any donations to fill in the area, if anyone has spares. I am also happy to swap plants. You can reach me on 0427 552 757

Thanks, Dot Francis

The Garden Clubs of Australia Annual Photo Competition is now on. Entry is free and the 2019 entry form is now available on the GCA website at www.gardenclubs.org.au.

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My name is Kym and I am the Branch Technician for the Murwillumbah Library. I would like to let you know about an

event we are hosting very soon that I thought may be of interest to your Garden Club members.

I have attached our flyer below and an overview of our event follows:

As seen on ABC TVs Gardening Australia, Spurtopia's Roman Spur will talk about his family's Sustainable Living story.

As a sustainable design engineer Roman lives what he preaches and has transformed an inner city rented property into

a productive food source and lives sustainably in complete happiness with his family. Join Roman as he provides

information, ideas, inspiration and courage to take the first step in your sustainable life. Spurtopia's story can be found at

http://spurtopia.blogspot.com/.<http://spurtopia.blogspot.com/>

For any bookings please phone the relevant branch as per contact numbers on the flyer.

Thanks Kym!

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In the garden of Don and Sandra Capner, ‘Morning Song’, 108 Farrants Hill Road, Farrants Hill, 02 6677 7244.

As Gillian mentioned in her report – please note that this meeting starts at 11am - not the usual 2pm. There is no Swap Table at this meeting as the tables will be laden with food and gifts instead. Bring a gift worth not more than $10 and preferably home- made. Each gift delivered will be swapped for a ticket. Each ticket will later be swapped for a gift (not the one you brought!) – so to get a gift you need to bring a gift.

Remember you need to bring all your own cutlery, plates, drinking vessels as well as a chair and of course, some food to share.

Food Group Christmas Party will be held on Tuesday 11 December at the home of Lyn

Reid, 149 Mitchell Street (cnr Grants Road) Uki, phone 02 6679 5238 starting at 11am.

This will be the last meeting of the year so please bring food to share for lunch, chair,

mug/glass, plants and produce. Please note that parking is limited so carpooling is highly

recommended.

The schedule for Food Group and Garden Gatherings for 2019 will be published in the January newsletter which will be

with you by the end of January. Please note there are no meetings in January and our first meeting back will be the

Food Group meeting to be held on Tuesday 12th February 2019.

Well, that’s it for this month and this year! Huge, huge, huge thanks to all the contributors for this month’s bumper

newsletter and your last one for 2018.

We would love to hear what you’ve all been up to over the summer. Please send your hints, tips,

recipes, travel stories, bragging photos to us at ugcnew@gmail.com

We wish you all the best for the festive season and may 2019 be a bright and beautiful year filled

with much fun, love, laughter and good gardening!

And thanks as always to our printer – Sandra & Alan Guthrie at Poster Paradise.

Cheers Fran & Sue