MUC GARDEN MEETING 2nd Feb 2016

Planning for Semester 1, 2016

Present: Shandiya, Emily, Anisa, David, Pippa, Jess
Apologies: Andrew, Jean-Pierre, Devana, Tessa, Emrys
Meeting open: 5.40pm
Item

Proposed
by

Budget

Discussion

Decisions/Actions

- $2,000 last year good

amount
- Funded by UMSU
- Anisa is best contact for
UMSU/budget related items
- Can do fundraising

- Anisa, Pippa & Jess to meet

Monday 8th Feb to discuss
further (and potentially finalise)

Collaboration with
Enviro Collective

Pippa

- Enviro Collective could be

held at garden increase in
size this year. Good
opportunity to recruit new
people. Could include
activity/game
- O-Week stall on Tuesday
for Enviro Collective MUC
Garden can join this
- Wednesday marquee on
south lawn for Enviro
Collective
- Bike blend
- Collaborate with Play with
your food?

- Anisa to let us know details of

stalls when she knows

Compost capacity -

Pippa and
Jess

- We are running out of

space bins are very full!
- Sign with instructions re.
turning compost has been
drafted but needs to be made
- Dont want to reduce
amount of compost created
- We could support uni
departments to get their own
compost bins or worm farms
- help them set up, give them
training and take the finished
product. This would hopefully

- Pippa/Jess to email Claudi to

ask if there is potential to
advertise project through MUC
Garden
- Shandiya or Emily to email
picture of worm farm system at
apartment building to
mucgarden@gmail.com
- David to find out if potential at
law school
- Pippa/Jess to make sign!!

reduce the strain on our

system!
- Sign up sheet/signage at
compost asking for those
interested in getting their own
bin to contact us
- Does the law building have
its own compost system?
Would they like to have one?
- Worm farms need to be
clean
Comment by Jean-Pierre:
There is a worm farm project
supported by a Green
Innovation Fund grant.
Person in charge is Claudi
Gasch
claudia.gasch@unimelb.edu.
au. That group manages 5-6
bins (same as yours) with a
plan to expand to about 10
on 4 different sites.
- Can we promote above
program through MUC
Garden?
Bees@unimelb

Pippa

Comment by Jean-Pierre:
Preliminary discussions with
Pippa. Possibility to
collaborate and install
orchard associated with
bee yard on roof of 757
Swanston street (stop 1
building corner of Swanston
and Grattan St). Next step is
to get structural assessment
to see if roof can support
weight. In principle
agreement of Harry Troedel
provided weight is not an
issue. Roof seems very solid,
so I do not think this is going
to be an issue.
Bees@unimelb is still
evolving and we are looking
at a suitable structure
(possibly becoming an entity
within the sustainability
group).

- Need to wait to hear back

from Jean-Pierre re. weight
restrictions

New developments:
Email address beekeepers@unimelb.edu.au is
set-up and functional
Web site to be developed >
Monique Edwards
Interview of JPS has
occurred and article is
getting written to promote
initiative.
Remote plans for a
large sign on faade
of building 757 Bees
on roof
- Aim is to have small set of
dedicated volunteers to run
beehives, as well as events
that more people could come
to
- Could have workshop on
bee keeping
- MUC Garden to potentially
assist with landscaping
garden around beehives
suggestion of orchard as
fairly low maintenance
- 3000 Acres style garden?
Uses wicking bed containers
approx. half a ton per box
- Would need to apply for a
grant up to $200 per box
- Potential for unusual fruit
trees e.g. bananas,
avocadoes
- Could start with wildflowers
or similar while fruit trees get
established
Working bee times

Pippa

- Alternate between days

each week
- Thursday & Tuesday
afternoons most popular

- Pippa & Jess to finalise times

- Pippa to run Thursday 4-6pm

Wet weather plan

Pippa

- Might struggle to fit in shed

- Could put in greenhouse
but wouldnt be convenient
- In compost bay? Might get
damaged by weather.
- Tarp over doors oof
compost bay?

- Jess & Pippa to research

marquee options
- Look into tarp over compost
bay

How to engage
more people
Instagram
competition?
Collaborate with
other
clubs/departments
Re-establish
volunteer
coordinator roles put call out to
people to take on
role?

Pippa

- Use garden as space for

events, esp. those run by
Enviro Collective
- More events including food,
e.g. using leftover food from
co-op
Comment by John-Pierre: In
my role of Associate Dean
(Research Training), I had a
chat with PhD/Master by
research students. One of
the things they wanted to do
was to take control of a
neglected courtyard in
building 400 (Vet Science on
Flemington Rd). This could
represent an opportunity to
collaborate. Obviously they
would need tp provide
hands to help on both the
neglected courtyard and the
MUC garden for this to work.
It might give you an
opportunity to get some
additional space and expand
the available surface area
- Put up flyers in departments
with potentially interested
people? E.g. herbarium.
Could also learn from
staff/volunteers there
- Garden could be more
focused on networking? E.g.
post jobs, run job skills
workshops in future
- Could advertise on Careers
section on unimelb website
- David can advertise events
etc. on noticeboard at law
building
- Instagram competition
take a pic of something
food/garden related, picture
in the garden? Prize e.g.
Ceres food box, Ceres
voucher. Run during O-week.
Could do periodically? E.g.
each season, getting
increasingly difficult
- Screen printed T-shirts or

- Jess to make Google Docs

template for position
description of volunteer
coordinator position
- Jess to look into advertising
on unimelb website
- Pippa & Jess to discuss, Jess
to run
- Plan screen printing for end
of sem.
- Jess to look into yoga group
on campus

bags sell or give away.

Approx. $50 for screen, $20
for ink (Pippa has contact)
- Yoga in the garden? Law
students already have yoga
class could run in garden?

Workshops for this

semester

Pippa

- Bee keeping
- Herbal tea / make your own
herb garden
- Edible weeds could get
Adam Grub in to speak
- Urban foraging
- Composting
- Propagating succulents
and/or indoor plants
- Make your own terrarium
- Alessandro Demayo / Urban
Pair for pickling/preserving
workshop
- Native edibles guest
speaker? Natives for
attracting birds/bees, e.g.
White plumed honey eaters.
Grevilleas? Small shrubby
plants good for attracting
birds.
- Native bees insect hotels

Compost smell

Andrew

Complain from someone in

Chem Eng about compost
smell

- Turn only outside business

hours
- Add lots of coffee chaff
- Add lime

New shelves for

shed - buy new flat
packed or look out
for second hand?
How to transport?

Jess

- Second hand furniture sale

(one Thursday per month)
could be free, if not cheap

- Shandiya to email info

Advertisement of
events in
Farrago/UMSU
website

Jess

- Who to contact?
- Potentially flyer in O-week
bag for Enviro Collective
could we add MUC Garden
info?

- Anisa to see if MUC Garden

info can be added to flyer
- Jess to email map of garden
location to Anisa

Combine with LSS /

Dave

- More engagement with law

- Dave to advertise events

get more law

students to
participate

students
- Could advertise events on
noticeboard/Facebook pages
- Yoga/other physical activity
in the garden?
- One post on FB pages with
events for semester? Or post
for specific events.

Food Co-op
Collaboration (use
veggies off garden
and hold cooking
sessions - maybe
have it themed by
culture or country)

Devana

- This could also help us get

funding to buy more
seeds/get tools etc. I
(Devana) could host these if
needed. I also have
volunteered in the co-op a lot
so I can help string these 2
together.
- Workshops on food
preserving? E.g. jams,
pickles

Plant native
Australian
plants/herbs (such
as lemon myrtle).
Maybe have a
separate
plot/section? Id like
to learn more about
native plants in
general. Unless this
is already present - I
have absent for an
year.

Devana

- We do already have a
native edibles garden bed at
the front of the garden

Installation of arch
and trellises

Andrew

May need arch signed off by

engineer in case people
climb on it
MUC Garden can cover cost
of trellises and potentially
installation

Topics for next meeting:

1. Improvement of natives bed
2. Farmers market

- Love idea of running joint

events with co-op Can
Devana look into this further?

- No action until we hear from

Andrew and Jacki re. next
steps to take

Meeting close: 7.15pm