"I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains."

How true it is

You will find the BOM link on previous posts and can certainly confirm the sentiments behind this classic Dorothea Mackellars poem, less than 48hrs ago sections of the south coast saw water spouts come ashore and reek havoc on coastal suburbs and with that change came plenty of the wet stuff. 

You couldn't pick it 24hrs later and the temps are back into the 30s and the sydney basin feels more like a Borneo rainforest.

can you find steve

Monster squash

So how does this affect the garden, well its all good, for those larger gardens i guess if you couldn't see the weeds last week you can now, for the greenkeepers, its not a matter of keeping them green anymore its keeping them cut before it rains again.

Sweet Potatoes at A/B Mens Shed

Camden Community Garden has been no different, while the rain tended to drive people in doors the serious and/or committed (maybe should be committed) are still out there, weeds not more than a few inches high had now reached dizzying heights, so with a coming together of half a dozen or so souls on the weekend an assault was made on some of the bigger ones. (see image right, Steve is 6ft plus and not standing in a hole). I might add the rain allowed easy removal of many of the larger weeds. The past month has seen considerable rainfall in the southwestern part of the Sydney basin and this has delivered some great results in the gardens, it had been hoped we would have pumpkins in time for the local show, unfortunately we didn't get enough early rain however those pumpkins have now gone crazy and thrown on several metres of growth in a matter of weeks, sweet potatoes are running like crazy and will no doubt produce a prolific crop come the cooler months. If you love zucchinis and squash, look no further than Camden Community Garden, i overheard someone the other night talking about how they grow even more on a full moon and how they would harvest night and morning, it looks like we had a full moon every night from the pic attached, numerous local gardeners have benefited from the harvest as well as some community members. This will continue as well.

Coming up

Camden Show rolls into town over the coming weeks and is on 15th and 16th of March, why visit the Royal Easter when there is a real country show on right here, don't forget to come in and see the kids interactive display and say hello, currently the Community Gardens Assoc and MCSL have close to 5000 seedlings growing at various sites to be given to the kids, most of these will go out the Friday to various schools in the area. 

Hermitage Country Fair is on to celebrate their 1st Birthday on the 2nd of March at the HomeWorld site on Camden Valley Way, come along and see whats on offer, there is an animal farm, a cake bake competition as well as lots more, the Community Gardens will be selling their fresh cut herbs.

Produce Markets are still 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month, come along and support the local stalls, the Community Gardens have the only Zero Food Mile produce on site, tell your foodie freinds and be sure to get your freshly cut herbs, Basil, (Thai, Opal, Genovese) Oregano, Parsley (flat leaf) Chives, Tarragon (French, Russian, Mexican), Sage, Chillis, Marjoram, Thyme, Rosemary, Shiso, Mint (Spearmint, Chocolate Mint, Peppermint), Lemon Grass, (definitely no coriander or dill at the moment)

Links, make sure you check our useful links page, we are constantly adding useful links that get sent to us, oh and if you see an official looking limo parked at the gardens next week it could be Julia just checking our garden out on route to the Uni for the opening of the new Centre for Carbon Water and Food.