REGIONAL NORTH WEST MEETING 11TH SEPTEMBER 2024 HOSTED BY ECHUCA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

What a FANTASTIC day was had by all. We had 13 Garden Clubs from our region come for lunch and 4 speakers. BIOMIX Mike Robertson located at Carag Carag Victoria, who gave a very confronting talk on garden waste procedure, with the mind boggling information on what not to put in your green bin!!!! They get metal, Non biodegradable bags, hypodermic needles, concrete, bricks etc. Only council approved bags can be put in your bin. Their passion is helping farmers & home gardeners produce high quality organic crops & enabling communities to close the organics recycling loop. Biomix nutrients are total organic carbon & nitrogen increasing soil carbon & soil health which has positive impacts on water holding capacity & soil structure. We can use Biomix on our home gardens also, use as a mulch 5 – 10 centimetres thick is best, to reduce soil evaporation, smother weeds and regulate soil temperature. They produce a staggering 100,000 tonnes of green organics per annum, sourced from our local Campaspe Shire and others. Naomi Langkamp Zone Coordinator Garden Clubs of Australia spoke on her journey to be the coordinator of the Hume Border Region. Craig Castree Edible Gardens talked about garden soil health and micro organisms in our soil. Companion planting for beneficial insects amongst your vegies and using every bit of your space to discourage weeds. He advocates that you chop off said weeds at ground level and plant something immediately to get the microbes working to the plants advantage. Craig had his books for sale which were very well received. Last speaker was Doc McDonald from Gargarro Botanical Gardens in Girgarre on how the botanical gardens was started, and money and grants raised. The gardens are native with thousands of plants already planted. In 2022 the devastating news was flooding in some of the gardens, with many plants not surviving, but all have been replaced since in a lovely sensory garden. The gardens will be done in stages and they have a lovely nursery where plants are propagated and offered for sale. Volunteers run this and keep the garden weeded and planted. The CAFE is pretty popular with yummy food, seating looking out onto the gardens. As this was also our 145th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION we had a huge cake for dessert which was cut by our longest oldest serving member ESMA who joined in 1968!! The light lunch catered by Echuca Bowls Club was delicious, the cake made by Daisy Cakes was yummy. The agenda worked like clockwork, coordinated by Marion & Kim. The raffles and lucky door prizes many donated by our local nurseries, KENNAUGHS GARDEN CENTRE, BUNNINGS ECHUCA, ECHUCA MOAMA PLANT FARM. TEMPTATIONS NURSERY ROCHESTER, ROCHESTER NURSERY. We thank them for their generosity. Our huge TRADING TABLE was well received with many bargains to be had, thanks to all the ladies who manned the table you did a wonderful job, and our new SQUARE EFT machine was running hot. WELL DONE!!! Also all of our regional sub committee, the many member volunteers on the day, without you all we would not have had a wonderful day. Rosemary & Lesley for the beautiful flower decor, and the sashes Rosemary made to identify our sub committee. To Marion our event coordinator and Lynne our secretary a SPECIAL THANKS for the mighty chore of setting the agenda, seating, balloon decor, what a fantastic group we have. Friendship through gardening is what it is all about. Next Regional meeting will be hosted by Kyabram Garden Club in 2025.