From the Instigator at the Western edge of THB

By Cath Stephensen

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me.

We held the Spring Equinox Potluck dinner at my place in Seabrook and it was an absolutely gorgeous event with lots of mixing of friends from a number of spheres in my life, local friends, cycling BUG friends and my lovely THB friends. What I really loved about it was that everyone mixed so well! As a host there was absolutely no need to try and ‘put people together’! A testament to the friendliness and openness I’ve come to expect from the THB community.

Some of the things that have been happening since then have included:

• HEtA (Health and Environment through Arts) Arty Sundays at Woods St., Artspace; 
• a photo-shoot at the Laverton Community Garden (LCG) for Leader Local News, to advertise the LCG entry in the Leader Local grants;
  
• BayWest Bicycle User Group's (BUG) Annual General Meeting;
  
• Health and Wellbeing Breakfast for cyclists, where the BUG set up a stall;
  
• the first Laverton Community Garden Fruit and Vegie Swap; and 
  
• Hobsons Bay’s Sustainable Sunday in Newport where I delivered a short presentation on mulching gardens to promote moisture conservation and plant health through summer. 
  

The LCG’s first Fruit and Vegie Swap was great fun with the garden acquiring 2 new members as a result. I got so inspired I put the hard word on Scott and Mary-Beth to create a LCG Facebook page, and by the time I got home it was done!  This is going to be a big month for the garden and I’ll be encouraging everyone to get onto the Leader Local Grants website to vote for our project. 

Sunday’s session on mulching the garden was held in the Guerrilla Garden behind the Newport Substation. What a great place to talk gardening! If you treat the passing trains with a sense of humour it’s all good, and my attendees were impressed at the way our mulch has turned an inhospitable environment into one now capable of supporting plant growth. 

Finally today, I have started a project to experiment with growing moss on vertical surfaces to create an art installation for Hobsons Bay City Council’s ‘Art in Public Places’.  

Upcoming events….

BayWestBUG has the Summer Solstice firmly in it’s sights with an evening ride planned for the 21st December to celebrate. Lock the date in now and start thinking: Cycle, Party, Picnic, Beach!