Hello We are a newish permaculture group in the inner west of Sydney. We've just started a community garden which we'll also use for teaching purposes. We'd love all of the tools we can be given. We will treat them with care. We would also love good manures, soil, and so on. Four permaculture beds are already established but we have many more to go. Thank you. Heather:
Hi Heather, recently, my wife who is a teacher wanted to start a garden outside a classroom, I suggested she contact our local council/parks and gardens unit and see if they can help. She had no response from them but Bunnings heard of her plans and not only supplied materials and plants but also one of their gardening gurus,the garden is wonderful. I have a friend who is a manager with Bunnings and he informed me that they have a community projects expenditure,they may be worth a call. Happy gardening,Dave.
I'm sure some councils do give grants of a few thousand to purchase tools and a shed.(ours does) Are you a proper formal organisation with a Chairman Treasurer and Secretary and take minutes ? (if not do) Also approach Lions, RSL, Rotary or anyone else you can think off, that's in your area.
Thank you very much, Dave. This is very helpful. I shall discuss this with our group tomorrow morning and then I'll get back to you. Best wishes Heather
Thank you, Grasshopper Our local council has now given us a worm farm, some mulch, and a couple of straw bales. They are going to deliver a composting bin very soon. This is a great start for us. We've managed to get a few tools on Freecycle and from a local market. We're hoping that someone may like to give us some native bees. Best wishes Heather
You should try linking your garden into a school. But i must say i find it strange you are asking here for money for tools. If you all work, why aren't you funding the tools yourselves like most other gardeners? The thing is these community gardens tend to benefit the people who work in them most so it makes sense that you pay for the cost of building and maintaining it. If you have your own gardens, it would make sense to bring your own tools from home when you go to work in yoru garden. Otherwise you should make a common shed and take from it when you want to work in the garden. The general community are not really like to participate in your garden unless you make a big effort to recruit them.
Hello Thank you for your message. Ours will be a teaching garden, for handing on permaculture principles and techniques for people in the community. So we are not in any way benefitting from it ourselves. Best regards Heather
