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Green Skills Twilight Market in Albany

40 stall holders at the Twilight Markets

Encouraging “shop local this Christmas” is the theme behind the inaugural Green Skills Twilight Markets. After extensive tours of UK Christmas twilight markets in 2018, and knowing how creative the great southern community is, Green Skills Albany Manager, Anne Sparrow, came back to Albany inspired to provide opportunity for local and regional, small, home-based and micro-businesses to increase trade in the lead up to Christmas gift giving and keeping funds circulating in our economy. Sustainable communities need sustainable economies and these small and micro-business keep money in our community.

The Twilight Markets provides a wider range of options for Christmas shoppers to support local businesses for their gifts. With over 40 stalls available across both nights, there is something for everyone. This includes a huge range of hand-crafted decorations and gifts for all ages including clothing, art, food, woodwork, mirror art, plants, decorative pieces, baskets, toys, jewellery, chocolates, functional items for house and home, beauty products, face painting, experience vouchers for wacky golf and more.

There will also be an outdoor street food alfresco area set up in the car-park providing afternoon tea, snacks, dinner and live music all night.

With two nights available shoppers have an option to leave the loved ones at home for one of the nights and shop in peace.

 

Balijup Sanctuary Citizen Science Event Focusses on Elusive Native Fauna

For two days in mid-October, Green Skills held a Citizen Science  environmental monitoring event at the Balijup Sanctuary near Tenterden. 19 people participated in the activities, including  Conservation lecturer from TAFE South, Sylvia Leighton and 10 of her Cert III students.  Projects completed including monitoring of 24 Phascogale nesting boxes (some showing use), Wildlife camera monitoring,  a tree hollow survey of the wandoo/Jarrah woodland, Sanctuary fence maintenance, weedy wattle road verge removal, night spotlighting, and a survey of rabbit warrens. Balijup co-owners Anne Vanderbyl and Alan Hordacre were on hand  and provided valuable assistance to the activities.

Despite lots of indirect evidence of our elusive native marsupials, none were directly spotted during the two days.

The event was supported by the WA State Government’s State NRM program, the Koorabup Trust, Gillamii Centre,  Janicke Environmental Consultants,  enthusiastic volunteers  and the owners of Balijup Farm.

A four day Bandicoot and fauna survey project is planned  from Thursday  15th January 2020 to Monday 20 January 2020. Volunteer participants welcome to join in that event.

For further info on the Balijup Fauna project, contact Basil Schur, Green Skills  Project Manager on 0429481019 or [email protected].,au

 

Volunteer team checking Phascogale nesting boxes at Balijup Fauna Sanctuary, October 2019

 

Inside a Phascogale nesting box with scats visible. Balijup October 2019

 

Wandoo and Jarrah woodland tree hollow survey at Balijup

Fence check and upkeep at Balijup Fauns Sanctuary by Conservation TAFE students

Annie Vanderbyl, one of the co owners of Balijup farm,  with a photo acknowledging her parents, near entrance of the Balijup Sanctuary.

 

The Citizen Science Group on the edge of one of the 13 lakes and wetlands on Balijup Farm. October 2019

Food is Free Project

The Albany office has been running a ‘Food is Free’ cart since 2017 at 38 Graham Street, inspired by the Food is Free laneway in Ballarat, VIC. Over the last two years, hundreds of kilograms of fruit and vegetables have been given away from this humble little upcycled cart. The Food is Free concept started in Austin, Texas and has now spread around the world with over 350 cities participating. It’s a great way to build community and connect excess food to people who can use it.

The Green Skills Albany office has several raised garden beds and grows seasonal vegetables when volunteer labour & staff energy allows. We currently have one volunteer working in our garden and have planted summer seedlings such as zucchini and tomatoes. Upcycled wicking beds in the front yard are a great way of keeping the vegies going through summer holidays with gaps in garden watering. The garden produce on the Food is Free cart mostly comes from the office gardens and staff home vegetable gardens.

You can participate by dropping off your own homegrown produce or taking whatever you find on the cart. Please don’t leave items that can blow away, such as egg cartons, as this location is windy. The cart has been on the verge in the past but it now lives under the veranda where it is shadier.

The Green Skills Food is Free cart is available to the community whenever the gates are open, which is roughly 9-3pm weekdays (may be earlier or later depending on staffing). Keep an eye out on our Facebook page for current offerings. While you’re there, you may want to bring your coffee pods, toothbrushes or old pens for recycling in the TerraCycle program.

You might even like to set up a Food is Free space or edible verge garden at your place. Find out how here.

The Denmark Community Garden – growing and engaging South Coast community gardeners

The Denmark Community Garden is operated by Green Skills in collaboration with the Denmark CRC and was opened in March 2019. The Garden is conveniently and prominently located in the heart of Denmark behind the Morgan Richardson Centre (old Denmark hospital site) which is now the Denmark Community Resource Centre. It is in easy walking distance of many residents in social housing and retirement villages and designed to be wheelchair accessible and family-friendly.

The garden is a sustainable, organic, community-based food garden which encourages its members and local South Coast residents to participate more actively in community life, connect with the earth, grow fresh garden produce, and enjoy doing all this in company with others in the community.  Here community gardeners can develop and try out new horticulture and food gardening skills and help give back to Denmark by contributing to this Community Garden.

The Denmark Community Garden is inclusive and accessible, holding regular free workshops and events for learning new gardening skills. Over 80 south coast residents have actively joined in workshops and events since this community garden was launched in March 2019.  Go check on the Green Denmark Community Garden’s activities and upcoming workshops at: https://greenskills.org.au/denmark-community-garden/

Greg nurturing the broad beans

Preparing a range of herbs & veggies for planting at the Denmark Community Garden

Appreciating Marvellous Garden Givers Copy

Appreciating some magnificent contributors to our Denmark-Kwoorabup community

Here Green Skills takes the opportunity to  thank and appreciate those volunteers and groups who support the Denmark Community Garden and who are consistently marvellous. This is a tribute to them and all the many quiet people who give heaps to our town and our world. Thank you

Support to establish the garden has come from Green Skills, the Denmark CRC,  Kwoorabup Denmark Transition Town Network, the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, the Denmark Community Windfarm Group Sustainability Fund,   Metroof, Thornton’s Hardware & Mitre 10, the Denmark Men’s Shed, contractors, other groups & volunteers 

Basil

Green Skills Denmark 98483110

Michael (of RAC rescue fame), Don and Greg. Last Wednesday in the pouring rain, Michael volunteered his truck and skills to help move some big shadehouse benchtops to the DCG

 

The Denmark Men Shed guys – rough sense of humour but true legends. Here they are helping relocate a shadehouse.

 

Greg helping relocate a shadehouse.. a true Aussie stalwart !

Neal – Denmark’s garden maestro and enthusiastic teacher of horticultural knowledge

 

Shirle, Greg and Neal at our composting workshops.. all deeply feeling beings who have green hearts and fingers

 

Lucia guiding the group through her spectacularly productive garden

Lucia (centre) with her garden produce, Dawn (right),another dedicated volunteer and contributor to not just the community garden but much more.

 

Lucia( right) who let us loose in her wonderful home garden last weekend – and Petra ( centre) who does a fabulous job of helping drive the Denmark Community Resource Centre, and Shirley ( healer and giver)

 

Campbell communicating with the garlic in the DCG (Denmark Communitarian Garden)

 

Greg communicating with the broad beans

 

Neal, Gloria and other garden enthusiasts

 

Carl, another legendary community supporter, who never fails to lend a hand

Thanks to all the Wwoofers who give so generously to the places they volunteer, in this case the Denmark Community Garden

Kristi, in her element at the Golden Hill Waldorf School.. winning Gold at the Waste Minimisation Olympics and another unsung community heroine

Kristi in composting action