Jon Quill, The Buloke Times
Donald’s Red Gate Community Garden is currently experiencing something of a growth spurt with an influx of new members.
But by far the greatest growth has been witnessed in their spectacular Sunflowers which peaked at just over 4 metres (14ft) before Christmas. Single seed head/flowers weighed in at a mighty 2kg.
The Sunflowers generated a great deal of interest for visitors to the town and locals alike, providing the backdrop for numerous photo opportunities.
Grown from seed and lovingly nurtured by Red Gate members, the key to their spectacular growth was down to the particular Sunflower variety – Giant Russian (affectionately, if not perversely, referred to as Ras Putin).
Competition
The Red Gate members, under the stewardship of Jenni Campbell and Leonie Harvey, have now decided to expand the Giant Russian franchise by means of a competition. Seeds will be sold at 10 for $2 and of course they come with the Red Gate Money Back Guarantee along with growing instructions (when to plant etc).
We don’t expect any repeat sales, with each flower yielding many hundreds of seeds ensuring a cropping perpetuity outside of our control.
The 5 best/tallest entries grown by purchasers will receive a 1 year membership to the Red Gate Community Garden with the absolute best/tallest entry receiving an additional $20 voucher from Karen Goldsmith’s Goldy’s Patch, which operates outside the Post Office on Fridays, and is where we purchase our growing requirements – highly recommended!
The competition will be open to all ages, so get the kids involved as well as competitive grown-up gardeners and rank amateurs. Seeds can be purchased any Tuesday morning from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. from the Red Gate Community Garden; look for the Red Gate in McCulloch Street directly behind the Bendigo Bank, and join us for a free cuppa and chat while you’re there.
Growing your own
With the current exorbitant prices being charged for fresh vegetables, it makes great sense to grow your own. Goldy’s Patch has a range of winter seedlings to get your savings started. And we can help with growing information and advice – we have local knowledge and experience of what varieties thrive in our climate, when to plant, how to control pests, application of fertiliser etc etc.
So make sure you drop in to discuss and hopefully join our growing bunch of growers – you might also be lucky enough to walk away with some of our fresh produce.
The Red Gate members would like to thank and acknowledge the receipt of a generous grant from EWHS under their Edible Gardening Program designed to promote the therapeutic benefits of home gardening and healthy eating – which is what we’re all about!
Additionally, we have received a donation from the Look First Op Shop as part of its community fund distribution, for which we are extremely grateful.
Some of our newest members are recent arrivals to the town/district and they unanimously agree – gardening at the Red Gate Community Garden is a wonderful way to meet people and to become actively involved in the community.
This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 7 May 2024.
