Community Gardens

Community Garden
The backyard community garden at Hackham west, 268 Beach road. Look for the man shed (go around to the back garden)

Meetups: 10am -1 pm Monday and Wednesday

Home garden working bees
Saturday/Sunday weekend gardening group

Contact : Sybil

RECYCLED WICKING BEDS ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTION

 * Open the box and lay the wicking material across the bottom with the balance hanging up over the side (as you will use this to layer on top again)
 * Break the lid (if using polystyrene) into smaller (but not tiny) pieces and lay across the material on the bottom of the box, covering the base of the box
 * Lay the balance of your wicking material across these pieces so the entire bottom of the box is covered
 * Use a pen or similar to make a small draining hole just above the level of the base wicking layer
 * Insert a small piece (several inches) of rubber hose through the hole – this will be how excess water drains from the bed
 * Stand your piece of poly pipe in the diagonally opposite corner with the base resting on the bottom of the box (this pipe will show the water level in the bed so you can monitor)
 * Place your soil evenly across the box and water in well (approximately 10 litres of water should be added – water gently so the water disperses evenly throughout the soil)
 * Use one bag of soil per box leaving a few inches gap from the top (this lip will help protect your baby plants from wind)
 * Place a cover (foil and rubber band/plastic cap/anything waterproof etc) on top of the poly pipe so no critters fall in and drown)
 * Plant seedlings in soil (use plants that do not form too deep root structures as the height of your bed is limited)
 * For the first 2 weeks monitor your garden daily, checking water level, seedling health etc
 * Your wicking bed is mobile so you can move around the garden as needed for optimum growing conditions (hours of sunlight etc)

Any watertight container can be used for a wicking bed (plastic crates, polystyrene boxes etc).

Try and use recycled materials.

Wicking should be part synthetic (eg polycotton blend) as standard materials will break down too quickly (you can source old sheets etc from second hand shops).

Polypipe can be sourced from recycle places or purchased from hardware stores (a few cm diameter white pipe so you can easily see the water level)