Seeds planted for place of permaculture

THE Ballarat Community Garden is set to receive a neighbouring orchard that will serve as a home base for two environmental groups.

Thanks to more than $107,000 in City of Ballarat partnerships grant funding, members of The Hidden Orchard and Ballarat Permaculture Guild are planning to bring a community orchard to life along Dyte Parade, Ballarat East.

Hidden Orchard president Ellen Burns said the project is about consolidating both groups’ operations.

“It’s a really exciting project we’ve been working on for two years behind the scenes… to provide food for the community, but also to provide workshops, and teach people how to grow food as well,” she said.

“This year, the Hidden Orchard have harvested over four tonnes of fruit around the community. Most of the fruit we harvest is from people’s backyards and public land.

“We’ve never had a place to call our own. All of the stuff we’ve done up to this point has been rescuing food that would otherwise have gone to waste.

“Growing our own food will be a first for us.”

The orchard is set to house a storage shed for equipment, a cold space to preserve fruit, the Ballarat Permaculture Guild library previously run out of a committee member’s house, as well as the group’s “Permablitz” trailer, where working bee items are kept.

A netted anti-aviary is also set to be installed to provide food for the community as well as provide a space for workshops.

The seeds were planted for the project quite literally with a planting session at the proposed site on Wednesday morning last week, with 10 fruit trees donated between the municipality and charity 15 Trees.

Ms Burns said the project is of particular importance given the cost of living crisis many are experiencing.

“It’s not an issue that’s often talked about but the stats are really alarming,” she said.

“The more we can grow our own food and enable and empower people to grow their own food, the stronger our food system is.”

No timeline is available on the project, which is pending VicTrack approval. VickTrack is the owner of part of the land due to its proximity to the trainline.

The grant funding cash will support the orchard’s development for three years.