A community garden needs one special ingredient to make it great – community! Everybody in the neighbourhood has something valuable to contribute to this garden and the CottonTree Community Garden is encouraging all local community members to be a part of it. Come to one of our meetings (held monthly on the third Wednesday of every month, become a friend of the garden and share your ideas or skills, nominate yourself for a committee position, propagate seedlings – there are lots of ways you can get involved:

News For the Month

Following the construction of a wooden wicking bed at the Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre, people have shown a keen interest in learning how to build a wicking bed themselves.
The easiest and cheapest way is to make a wicking bed out of a styrofoam box.

 A wicking bed is basically a self watering pot and is very water efficient. So if you forget to water your veggies for days at a time you may consider this as an alternative to the standard veggie garden.

Materials you will need
Styrofoam box

Piece of 13mm irrigation tube or garden hose

Piece of shade cloth or hessian bag

Bag of potting mix or similar growing medium

20 kilo bag of gravel (Remember gravel is heavy so be careful when lifting your box)
 
Process
1.     Pour gravel into box
2. Pierce a hole with a screwdriver just above the level of the gravel big enough to fit the tube through
3. Insert irrigation tube (This will act as an overflow)
4. Fill with water until water leaks out of overflow tube
5. Place piece of shade cloth on top of gravel (gravel must be totally covered with cloth)
6. Add your growing medium
7. Plant out with veggies or herbs

8. Water generously (This will activate the wicking)




 
 DECEMBER SPECIAL
Worm Juice Anyone?
Worm Juice will be available at the garden on Sunday's between 9.00 - 10.30 am.
Please bring your own jar or small container.
A donation would be appreciated to assist with our ongoing costs
(the worms have just been to the union and they want more coin!).

Please ask for Denise (otherwise known as Shirley)



Controlling Caterpillars
Our furry visitors are not welcome

 How to deal with your furry caterpillar visitors. You can obviously just squash them OR you can spray on pyrethrum which is a herbicide made interestingly from chrysanthemum flowers.

Happy gardening


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