Community orchard gets sustainability boost

A new compost station is in store for the Phillip Island Community Orchard (PICO) with funding assistance recently announced by Westernport Water as part of their annual Community Support Program allocation.

“We are very excited to be launching into establishing a state-of-the-art composting station to enable us to better recycle all our garden waste in a sustainable way,” said orchard President, Annette Mackenzie.

“We are grateful to Westernport Water for their generous support of this project which will involve our community in learning about composting in its many different forms.”

The compost station will include bays for open composting, an area for tumbler composts and a worm-farm included in the mix, along with a large storage bay for garden mulch.

It is expected to be completed by the end of October this year.

The orchard, sited off Hallway Drive in Wimbledon Heights, is a community-run organisation that manages and maintains over 100 fruit and nut trees, fruiting shrubs and vines along with offering a number of garden plots for its members to grow their own vegetables.

The group meets monthly for working-bees and offers quarterly guest speakers on all subjects relating to gardening, food production and sustainability and holds an Annual Harvest Festival in autumn which members of the general public are invited to attend.

The land has been leased by Westernport Water to PICO for this “flagship demonstration site” under the Land Use Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding since 2013. This was renewed for another three years at the end of last year.

A new initiative at the orchard is to open its gates for members of the public to come and have a look around on its monthly working-bee days starting from this Saturday, September 23 between 9am and 12 noon.

A major event is also planned to celebrate the group’s 10th Anniversary on Sunday October 29 from 10am – 3pm.

So mark the date to come along and enjoy the special guest speakers, food and activities that will be on offer.

For more information on orchard events and how to become a member, please go to islandorchard.wordpress.com or visit our facebook page: www.facebook.com/islandorchard