Saturday 10th October
AGM 11 to 11.30am
Seed Bank Opening 11.30am to 1pm
Brown’s Lagoon, Olive Street, South Albury

After that lovely rain and as the temperatures warm up again, our thoughts will be turning to planting our summer crops. And, just in time, SSAW is giving you the opportunity to access the seed bank!

We will have our AGM at 11am on Saturday 10th October, followed by the opening of the seed bank from 11.30am until 1pm. We will be holding these events in the covered picnic area at Brown’s Lagoon, Olive Street, South Albury.

Please consider attending the AGM. It is always short but it is a great opportunity to meet members of the Committee and show your support. You must be a member to vote.

You can view a list of the seeds currently in stock on our website but there should be more available on the day as members add new seed.

We hope that many of you will bring seed, cleaned or uncleaned, that you have saved from crops earlier in the year to deposit in the seed bank. Cleaning equipment will not be available due to COVID risk but you can deposit uncleaned seed to be cleaned by Committee members at a later date.

In order to follow COVID guidelines, we have to implement some extra procedures to keep everyone as safe as possible:

• Those who intend to attend the event should pre-register by emailing seedsaversalburywodonga@gmail.com with their name, email address and phone number. This will give us the compulsory list of attendees which can be checked off at the event and therefore reducing contact with other people and sharing of pens etc.
• Those who wish to deposit seed, should, wherever possible, print and fill in a seed deposit sheet from our website prior to the event. This should be handed in on the day for a Committee member to collate.
• Similarly, those withdrawing seed need only to fill in the withdrawal sheet which will be available on the day. Members’ credits and debits will be added to their cards by Committee members at a later date.
• Hand sanitiser and wipes will be provided and must be used on registering and after handling seed packets, measurers, etc
• Safe distancing should be practised at all times. If the area becomes crowded, Committee members will control the flow of people.
• Masks are recommended in crowded situations.

Members who live in the Victorian bubble will need a Border Pass.

Membership is now due. Don’t forget to renew your membership online at our website.

Hope to see you soon.

Seed Savers Albury-Wodonga Inc.

Saturday 9th November 201

A few seedsavers and keen local gardeners braved the cold, windy weather and visited Pat and Ada’s farm at 13 Kibell Lane Beechworth, last Saturday. We had a nice hot cup of tea before our informative tour around the farm. Pat and Ada have been growing vegetables on their 27acre farm for the last three years. They are committed to producing healthy organic vegetables grown in humus rich soil, as they are certified Demeter Bio Dynamic in conversion growers.

This chemical free farming practice and the certification requirements are challenging and rewarding for Pat, Ada and their young family. They have worked hard growing green manure crops to improve their soil which was quite acid and depleted to begin with. In winter they sow fava and broad beans, vetch, clover, oats, and lupins which are cut and dug into the soil. In summer they grow sorghum, sunflowers, buck wheat and corn to help build up humus rich soil, rich in organic matter. They use mulch, hand weeding or use various hand tools to limit weed germination around their young seedlings.

Poor drainage in their fields was another challenge they had to contend with, constructing table drains to prevent waterlogging and adding mushroom compost and animal manure to improve the soil fertility. They erected a boundary fence that keeps rabbits, Kangaroos and wombats out. Red legged earth mites and  hot and cold temperatures have been managed by covering emerging seedlings in the fields. In terms of water they have 10 megalitres of groundwater and 12 megalitres in surface dams to use for growing vegetables.

The rewards for Ada and Pat are evident in the vegetable boxes they sell at the farm gate. They supply vegetables to local restaurants and they sell open pollinated seedlings at local markets for home gardeners. So check out their website to shop online https://beechworthnaturalfarm.com.au or visit their farm. Pat and Ada are both genuinely committed to growing healthy organic food for their community.

Photo from Nick Taylor’s “Pedalling Forwards” blog.

Nick Taylor is a sustainability blogger on a pedal-powered tour around Australia. He recently passed through our area and joined in the Seed Savers Albury-Wodonga visit to the community garden.

Nick describes his adventure as ‘a bike journey in search of sustainability innovations and inspiration’ and he wrote a lovely piece about his visit to this garden with our group. Continue reading →