Poorneet (Tadpole) & Community Food Growing Festival

Upcoming events
WaUter Smart Gardening

FRI 24 OCTOBER

• Raising Rarity: Endangered Plants & Sowing the Seeds of Wonder with Tash Van Velzen & seed ecologist Dr Meg Hirst, Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria | 10.30am - 12pm | Newlands

Raising Rarity (RBGV) helps community to grow and care for a threatened plant that occurs (or did so historically) within proximity to their location. 

Learn about botany, how to grow and monitor plant health and help care for endangered plants! 

Given our proximity to Hidden Creek, we will be looking at Swamp Everlasting Xerochrysum palustre (pictured). A relatively large, yellow-flowered native daisy growing in seasonal or permanent wetland habitats. We are aiming to plant a test bed for the community to monitor and learn about. There are only about 35 wild populations of Swamp Everlasting left in south-eastern Australia! 

Tash Van Velzen is a horticulturalist and facilitates outreach for Raising Rarity RBGV. 

Dr Meg Hirst is a plant ecologist with specialist experience in ex situ seed banking and plant conservation through her work with the Victorian Conservation Seedbank at Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Meg holds a PhD in plant ecology from the University of Melbourne and is a teacher and researcher with experience in growing, tending and studying plants in both scientific, public gardens and experimental settings.

Tickets available now!

SUN 26 OCTOBER

• Paper Sculpture Workshop with Lizette Vieyra | 10am - 1pm on Sun 26th of October, Newlands

Join artist and NECCHi community member Lizette Vieyra for this one-of-a-kind workshop to learn how to sculpt and shape recycled materials into a usable vase.

Lizette will guide us through the various techniques for paper sculpture, and show how to transform recycled materials into these gorgeous vessels. Explore different forms and decorative techniques over this two-and-a-half hour workshop, and leave with your very own work of art!

This is a family-friendly event. All abilities welcome - no prior experience required.

Paper pulp sculpture is a sustainable and accessible art practice that transform simple materials into unique handmade pieces. This introductory workshop invites participants to experience the joy of shaping and decorating a small vase. 

Past Events

PRELUDE

• Drop-in plant dyeing with NECCHI artist Ria Soemardjo (free) | FRI 22 Aug | 9.30-11.30am

This free drop-in event is at NECCHI NEWLANDS garden to learn about simple solar dyeing with plants and food scraps. Ria will be making small flags for the upcoming NECCHi Garden Festival in September celebrating the Wurundjeri season of Poorneet (Tadpoles). No booking required.

SAT 6 SEPTEMBER

• Family Friendly Bird Walk | 9.30am-12:30pm

Come and join Merri Creek Management Committee's Ann & Karen McGregor and Arimbi Winoto from Friends of Merri Creek to learn about the birds of the creek and the migratory birds visiting in Poorneet season.

• Bushfoods with Aunty Jo Russell | 10am-12pm

Join Aunty Jo Russell to learn about the rich history and use of native Australian plants, offering a deeper understanding of how these plants have sustained and nurtured Indigenous communities for thousands of years.

• Fluid Body, Fluid World with Live Particle (free) | 10.45am-12pm

Learn about water creatures like tadpoles (poorneets), watery worlds and how you too have a body of water. Move and make images, sculptures and installations with one another, art materials and objects.  Come and drop-in for moving, playing and making with artists Live Particle. No experience necessary – all welcome!
No bookings required.

• Afternoon Picnic in the Park with Special Performance by Takatāpui Waiata Rōpū Māori LGBTQI+ Choir | 12-3pm

BYO picnic food and drinks, rugs and friends! With a special performance by Takatāpui Waiata Rōpū Māori LGBTQI+ Choir  at 12pm. And skin art & face painting by Angela Foley from Merri Creek Management Committee. Readings by artist Vanessa Chapple to launch the 'Learning on Country' library. Bakesale to raise money for Palestine. Soup from Brewlands. Low cost veggie and indigenous seedlings from Rainmoth Community Nursery. 

• Meet the Frogs of Merri Creek | 5-6.45pm

Join Tania from Merri Creek Management Committee for an evening to learn more about the Frogs of Merri Creek. Learn to listen for their frog calls!

After we've been introduced to the frogs of the creek and learnt to use frog ID apps, we will grab our torches and walk to the nearby Merri and Edgar's Creek Wetlands.

At the wetland we will listen for frog calls and learn how to make a good frog call recording to help contribute to important research mapping our local frog friends.

Please wear closed, flat footwear, long pants and warm clothes. Bring a torch for the return walk.

This is a family friendly event, children must be closely supervised. Children under 12 free!

SUN 14 SEPTEMBER

• Water Smart Gardening with Sustainable Gardening Australia

Last summer was hot and long! Let's learn how to manage water well for a productive garden. We will hear about smart design, garden zones, plant selection, dry climate plants, the crucial role of soil, different types of mulch, spreading rainfall across all areas of your garden, capture and storage of rain water, grey water, irrigation, water smart technologies.

THU 16 OCTOBER

• Beans, Beans, Beans! The Art of Growing Abundant Crops with Observation and Creativity. With Jennie Ramage | 6.00pm-7.00pm | Newlands

Come and learn with long-time food grower and garden-creative Jennie Ramage who has been using observation and creativity for years to learn the art of growing abundant crops of beans. Last summer Jennie was picking an average of 400g beans daily for 3 weeks!

Content

- Learning to grow something well: Observation and learning to grow one thing

- When & where to plant

- Soil Preparation - compost, worm castings, mulching, soil pH

- Support structures for dwarf & climbing beans: Jennie will bring in some structures she has used for growing success

- Hints for a bumper crop - watering, picking

- What to do with a bumper crop

FRI 17 OCTOBER

• Cuttings and Propagating Indigenous Plants with Laurel Coad from Nangak Tamboree Indigenous Nursery | 11.30am-1.30pm | Newlands

Learn how to propagate indigenous plants in the NECCHi Newlands garden with Laurel from Nangak Tamboree Nursery (La Trobe University). She will demonstrate various plant propagation techniques and discuss resources, treatments and tips to help you propagate plants in your own garden. Participants will also have the opportunity ask questions and seek problem-solving tips. 

Nurseries that specialise in indigenous plants are currently working to capacity to meet huge demand. Propagating these plants is a great skill to have to help increase local habitat!

We respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional owners of the land on which the festival is held. We acknowledge that they have never ceded sovereignty and remain strong in their enduring connection to Country and culture. 

TICKETS

Please use the code SOLIDARITY for flexibly priced Solidarity Admission: First Nations People, People from refugee backgrounds, unwaged, concession

Please use the code CHILD for free tickets for children under 12 year old. All children must be accompanied by an adult with a ticket. 

Please email programs@necchi.org if any questions about tickets.