City Harvest to hold its first Field Day

AFTER successfully operating across inner city Melbourne for the past four years, City Harvest is putting down roots in the Geelong region.

The charity has established a community market garden on land provided by The Farmer’s Place in Freshwater Creek, and will have its first “Field Day” walk and talk there on Tuesday, November 13.

The Field Day will feature a walk and talk around City Harvest’s operations, followed by an informal Q&A session over a home-baked morning tea.

Leah Ingles, a local to the area, took on managing City Harvest in July to deliver an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable solution to turn local food waste into a valuable food resource.

This is done by collecting food waste from local food traders, which is composted with nutrients returned to the soil of the market garden.

Securing funding has been the biggest challenge to date, and City Harvest is grateful to their sponsors and supporters. Sproutwell Greenhouses donated a large greenhouse, which was fitted out largely with a Surf Coast Shire grant. AGF Seeds provided a green cover crop to improve the condition of the soil for growing, and Geelong Compost manage and maintain a compost windrow at the site. Many other community groups and individuals have assisted in donating pots, seeds, seedlings, time and knowledge.

Ms Ingles holds a stall at the monthly Pako Farmer’s Market, raising funds for City Harvest by selling rCups (made from recycled coffee cups) and the Bag of Plenty (a soil fertiliser made from the food compost collected through Melbourne operations and composted by Circular Foods). Those funds have gone toward raising seedlings for November’s market, with the ultimate goal of having fresh local produce available to sell at the December market.