Archive for the ‘Animals’ Category

Open Day on Sunday, 23rd October

The East Keilor Sustainable Community Garden started as a community project in 2004 and will be open to the public this Sunday 23rd October.

Free entry, plant sale and BBQ, garden tour, kids playground, chickens, orchard, seeds.

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~eksscg/index.htm

Address: 10a Tuppal Place, Keilor East
Time: 11am to 3pm

Free sustainable gardening workshops
As the weather warms up, why not learn new skills at spring workshops run by My Smart Garden program? The program, run by Moonee Valleyand Hobsons Bay Councils helps you grown your own food, shelter your home, use water wisely and recycle wastes.

As well as access to workshops, Moonee Valley & Hobsons Bay residents who sign up to the program receive sustainable gardening information, discounts from local garden suppliers and can win great prizes every month. You could win a rain garden worth $500 in October and a Fowler’s preserving kit worth $250 in November.

Introduction to organic gardening

Date: Saturday 15 October, 10 – 12pm
Strathmore Heights Community Centre,
Address: 1 Boeing Rd, Strathmore Heights

Beginner’s guide to chickens

Date: Saturday 22 October, 10am – 12pm
Louis Joel Arts and Community Centre,
Address: 5 Sargood Ave, Altona

Meet your garden bug life and control pests naturally

Date: Monday 24 October, 6-8pm
Flemington Library,
Address: 311 Racecourse Rd, Flemington

Garden for wildlife

Date: Thursday 3 November, 6-8pm
Avondale Heights Library,
Address: 69/72 Military Rd, Avondale Heights

Gardening in small spaces

Date: Thursday 17 November, 6.30 – 8.30pm
Newport Community Education Centre,
Address: 43 Mason St, Newport

To book in for workshops, please email
Contact contactus@mysmartgarden.org.au or call 9932 1142.

A registered Bee Keeper, has excess bee hives.

We would like to give away some Hives, we have a fresh swarm (today) and several established hives.

A hive consists of a Hive box with 8 frames of wax in it, a queen bee, all her workers, etc. We live in Coburg and would be happy to deliver a hive to anyone that wants one, simply cover the cost of the box and frames we are supplying.
($100 for single box with 8 frames, $150 for a double box with 16 frames).

The swarm can be delivered in a swarm box, or transfered into a hive box for a beginner bee keeper.

It is preferable that the Hives are with a registered bee keeper (easy process, register with DPI, cost is $15)

http://new.dpi.vic.gov.au/agriculture/animals-and-livestock/bees-wasps,
and that the person getting the hive also gets a bee suit and basic equipment, (can help you with contacts for suppliers).
http://www.bobsbeekeeping.com.au/

Any enquires, please ring Phil on 0419 006 454.

Feel free to add similar offers in the comments section – Ann

FREE INTRODUCTION TO BEEKEEPING WORKSHOP!

As part of the existing Boroondara community interested in environmental and sustainability issues, we thought you may be interested in joining the 10,000 registered beekeepers in Australia and participating in a free workshop being held on the 22 September 2011 at the Camberwell Civic Centre (8 Inglesby Road, Camberwell) from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

Beekeeping is a great way to provide your family and friends with tasty honey and useful products. It is also a great way to increase pollination and crop yield in your own and your neighbours garden! In this workshop, Boroondara resident expert Kerin O’Brien, will show you the basics of beekeeping, taking you through how to build your own hive, look after the colony and harvest the honey and beeswax. If you are interested in starting up this new past time, or just want to know more please register to attend.

Bookings are essential and can be made by calling 9278 4873 or visiting our website: www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/living-for-our-future and a poster is attached for your reference.

Light organic refreshments will be served on the night.

Beginners Guide to Chickens – Free Event

A ‘My Smart Garden Workshop’

Date: Friday 6th May 10am-12pm

Address: Farnham Street Neighbourhood Learning Centre
28 Farnham St, Flemington
RSVP Ph: 9376 9088 to register (FREE)

Also in the Farnham Street centre is MINTI Transition Towns who are holding a Fashion Makeover on the 2nd May at 7pm

Preserve the Harvest – Preserve the Planet

Sustainability Expo

Have you ever watched a ‘foodie’ show where four or five generations of the one family have come together to bottle a year’s worth of tomatoes? Have you wished you could be part of an event like that?

Here is your chance – join in the first Maribyrnong Community Tomato Bottling at the sustainability expo.

The event will include displays by local providers on sustainable lifestyle products and information.

Expert presenters will be on hand throughout the expo to inform you about:
- Fruit preserving and home food drying
- Bee keeping
- Budding and grafting fruit trees
- Making ‘Local Lemonade’ and herbal teas
- Permaculture Playgroups

This will be a carbon neutral event.

Date: Sunday 27 February
Time: 10am to 2pm

Address: Maidstone Community Centre
21 Yardley Street, Maidstone

For more information contact:

Maribyrnong City Council on 9688 0200 or visit www.maribyrnong.vic.gov.au

Backyard Chooks

Sunday Nov 21, 11am or 1:30pm

Come along and find out how easy it is to keep a few chooks as pets, egg providers and why they are the ultimate garden recyclers. Why buy eggs when you can grow your own and have free fertilizer for the garden!

Topics covered include- selecting the right breed for your needs, keeping them healthy, breeding and much more.

Growing and preserving herbs

Sunday Nov 28, 1:30pm

Join Heather from St Erth as she teaches you how to grow both tender and hardy herbs in pots and garden beds.
Did you now that different herbs need different conditions and how easy it is to harvest and preserve your own home-grown herbs for year round use?
Learn about the different methods of drying herbs, how to correctly store herbs, how to make herb oils and about the best ways to keep your harvested herbs fresh for as long as possible.

Limited places
Bookings Ring the Garden of St Erth on 5368 6514
Members $20, non-members $25, students $15

Some of us will be aware of Joel Salatin from ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’ and the film ‘Food Inc’

For those (esp farmers) keen to hear more, there are currently places available at Joel’s two-day workshop at Taranaki Farm, Woodend on 29-30 Dec. (This is Joel’s second Victoria workshop; first workshop booked out.)

Cost: $712.50pp, may include accomm & food i’m not sure.

Details and booking at: http://www.regenag.com/workshops/polyface/

Workshop Description

Joel Salatin is a masterful speaker whose humour and positive energy guarantees a rewarding workshop. Over two information packed days Joel takes us through his entire family farm operation from the production of pastured poultry (eggs, broilers, turkeys), salad bar beef, pigaerator pork, forage-based rabbits & forestry products through to the relationship marketing approach his family business has developed that has made Polyface Farm the internationally recognised, and strictly local farm it is today.

If you are a farmer, understand your potential to renew and inspire your local community through clean food. If you live in town, discover the power you have to patronise your local farms and decouple them from wholly unfair corporate forces. Help your local farmers transform their farms into profitable and wholesome operations producing food you can trust. Become instrumental in the conscientious transformation of the dangerously toxic and destructive food production status quo towards the wholesome regenerative model the Polyface Farms have proven wildly successful. With Joel you’ll reveal the astonishingly obvious steps we all must take towards a future that is beyond sustainable.

Act to regenerate your land, water & community.

Find out about how to record frogs calling in your local waterway

Have you ever wanted to know more about the native animals that live in your local area? Frogs live fascinating lives and are an important part of our aquatic ecosystems. Our frogs are adapted to specific local conditions and are an indicator of waterway health.

Join Healthy Waterways Waterwatch, Hobsons Bay City Council and Friends of Williamstown Wetlands for an evening of frog discovery on the distribution and life cycles of the frogs of Melbourne, as well as:

• Identification of frogs by their call
• Tips and hints for recording these often cryptic creatures
• Training for the Melbourne Water Frog Census
• How to attract frogs to you garden and creating frog-friendly habitat.

Check out the frog census website http://frogs.melbournewater.com.au/ with interactive map

When: 7:30 PM, Sunday November 28.
Where: Meet at the end of Bayview St, Williamstown. Melway 55 K10.
Please Bring: Weather appropriate clothing, sturdy shoes, long pants, torch and if available, recording equipment such as digital voice recorder, mobile phone, etc.
Please contact Laura Murphy (Hobsons Bay City Council) on ranger@hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au or
Phone 9932 1282 to book your place.

I am looking for a property within 1-1.5 hr drive North of Melbourne. Where I can agist some beehives until I can organise a more permanent arrangement.

I keep a docile strain of bees and should not bother anyone.

Ideally the property would have a quiet shady location away from people, but with car access not too far away as hives can get heavy. If there was a creek or other water source within a km this would be fantastic, but not a must.

Trees or other nectar sources within 4km are important.

Willing to pay rent in honey, or by other arrangement.

Contact Phil
Mobile 0419 006 454

swarms are available to beekeepers with boxes