By Trish Bowman
Yeppoon Landcare have been successful in acquiring a $10,000 grant from Lendlease Foundation and Bendigo Bank Community Enterprise Foundation to restore and expand the bush tucker garden established by Alby Wooler at the Yeppoon Community Centre and make it into a true community garden.
Landcare President Malcolm Wells said Livingstone Shire Council have been very supportive of the initiative having given the group permission to use some of the garden at the Community centre site.
“This is a big win for the community. The site of the new elements of the edible garden are in close proximity to the Foodbank so it will have a dual purpose,” Mr Wells said.
“In talking to the Foodbank team, we established that many of the Foodbank clients currently don’t know how to grow their own vegetables so this is a wonderful opportunity to create a space that can be a teaching tool for interested residents while providing a fresh food source for the community.
“The new garden beds will be in addition to the already established edible garden trees installed by Alby and his volunteers many years ago.
“We will clean up and thin out the current garden to allow more light to come in so we can encourage the growth of what is already there.”
The funding will be used to purchase raised garden beds, soil, seedlings and plants to instal the edible garden beds at the rear of the Yeppoon Community Centre in close proximity to the Foodbank shed.
Landcare volunteers will maintain the new garden beds on top of the work they already do at Mulambin Beach, three areas along Farnborough Beach, Alby Wooler Park in Yeppoon, Taranganba State School environmental area and regular clean-up and weeding days across the Capricorn Coast and islands.
Mr Wells said the volunteers are always expanding their scope of works and are keen to hear from more people who would like to volunteer to assist.
“Right now, we have 30 volunteers on our books covering a large area of work,” Mr Wells said.
“We always have room for more people to come along and help us in our community work.
“Our volunteers are an amazing bunch of people who are welcoming and friendly.
“At every working session we have a nice morning tea when the mornings work is done which is a time to catch up and chat with friends.
“We have the greatest appreciation for any time our volunteers can offer and new volunteers can decide how much or little they would like to volunteer.”
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Sara Hillman at Envirolink on 4939 1002.