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ABOUT THE GNOMES FARMING CO-OP |
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The Gnomes Farming Co-operative is a co-operative of likeminded folks who are dedicated to growing food locally in unused urban spaces around Melbourne. And we have had an exciting journey since we began in early 2015!
We did an initial call out for any unused urban spaces and for interested farming folk in the Summer of 2015. We received a flood of great offers and new farmers, and the Gnomes began to take form. After we conducted site visits and negotiated with the landholders, we chose two sites – in Westgarth and Preston - to do a trial run for the Autumn season. Then the real fun stuff began... there were working bees and efforts aplenty to establish those spaces. This involved getting to know each other and building community, planning our co-farming and writing frameworks for land share agreements, and all the dirty stuff: weeding, digging and double digging, raising seedlings, building raised beds and of course watering - all with our DIY ethos and permaculture focus. We're now benefiting from our efforts at the now two established sites, and have rolled out into a further two sites in Preston. For two seasons, we had a site at Brunswick that has sadly now closed due to rental eviction. Which means now we stick to private land and public spaces. Our Westgarth site recently expanded and took over the nature strips of its neighbours, with great support from the local community. ANd we've just started a new site in Coburg. That's five sites up and running currently, and growing! There have been many yummy veggies harvested, distributed and eaten.
Several Gnomes are also a part of a few side initiatives, including seedling raising - to grow all those plants we use; food production - for all the food we grow; and even mushroom sporing and bee keeping in the background! To see what else we're up to, check out our Updates or the Upcoming Events.
We do working bees when needed and then have regular maintenance days on sites. We also occasionally run events, such as pruning workshops, composting skill-shares, olive harvesting days, etc. These are open to co-op members, newcomers wanting to get involved and the general public. Gnomes also have monthly meetings, usually in the northern suburbs, please see upcoming events for meeting details. All are welcome at our meetings, activities and events. We also do periodic call-outs for new farmers, particularly if we're starting work on a new site. But you can jump on board at any time. Contact us to get involved!
WE'RE DOING A ONGOING CALL OUT FOR NEW FARMERS (PARTICULARLY IN NORTHCOTE, COBURG & PRESTON) AND LAND. PLEASE FILL OUT A FORM TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST HERE
We did an initial call out for any unused urban spaces and for interested farming folk in the Summer of 2015. We received a flood of great offers and new farmers, and the Gnomes began to take form. After we conducted site visits and negotiated with the landholders, we chose two sites – in Westgarth and Preston - to do a trial run for the Autumn season. Then the real fun stuff began... there were working bees and efforts aplenty to establish those spaces. This involved getting to know each other and building community, planning our co-farming and writing frameworks for land share agreements, and all the dirty stuff: weeding, digging and double digging, raising seedlings, building raised beds and of course watering - all with our DIY ethos and permaculture focus. We're now benefiting from our efforts at the now two established sites, and have rolled out into a further two sites in Preston. For two seasons, we had a site at Brunswick that has sadly now closed due to rental eviction. Which means now we stick to private land and public spaces. Our Westgarth site recently expanded and took over the nature strips of its neighbours, with great support from the local community. ANd we've just started a new site in Coburg. That's five sites up and running currently, and growing! There have been many yummy veggies harvested, distributed and eaten.
Several Gnomes are also a part of a few side initiatives, including seedling raising - to grow all those plants we use; food production - for all the food we grow; and even mushroom sporing and bee keeping in the background! To see what else we're up to, check out our Updates or the Upcoming Events.
We do working bees when needed and then have regular maintenance days on sites. We also occasionally run events, such as pruning workshops, composting skill-shares, olive harvesting days, etc. These are open to co-op members, newcomers wanting to get involved and the general public. Gnomes also have monthly meetings, usually in the northern suburbs, please see upcoming events for meeting details. All are welcome at our meetings, activities and events. We also do periodic call-outs for new farmers, particularly if we're starting work on a new site. But you can jump on board at any time. Contact us to get involved!
WE'RE DOING A ONGOING CALL OUT FOR NEW FARMERS (PARTICULARLY IN NORTHCOTE, COBURG & PRESTON) AND LAND. PLEASE FILL OUT A FORM TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST HERE
