Spring News

Here is the latest news from Mosman Community Gardeners.

If you would like to receive our monthly e-news contact us at mosmancommunitygardeners@gmail.com 

Mackie Lane Garden Expands

Ausgrid and Mosman Council have agreed to extend Mackie Lane garden to cover the remaining hard surfaces on the site.  Mosman Council has generously agreed to move the fence and work is scheduled for this week. 

A new garden plan will be developed with Mackie Lane gardeners and new gardens beds built over the next few months.

Mosman Council Community Grant

Mosman Council has provided MCG with a $2,000 financial assistance community grant to assist with the development of Mackie Lane garden and community education.

Mosman Climate Challenge Group Donation

We are very grateful to the Mosman Climate Challenge Group (MCCG) who have made a donation to the gardens of $250.  MCCG organised the screening of the 'Honeybee Blues' documentary which was a sell out event. The donation is a contribution from the ticket sales.

Mackie Lane News

Thanks to Loani Tierney from Mosman Council for her informative, hands on session on worm farms – and Mosman Council for their generous donation of additional worm farms for the garden. Our second ‘seed planting bee’ saw a great turn out of helpers with some 2 dozen varieties planted – well and truly getting ready for Spring.

August’s ferocious wind storms saw the greenhouse and some of our seedlings take a bit of a battering but on the whole, the garden weathered it all remarkably well – and the scarecrow’s still standing!

MCG Membership

MCG membership renewals are due by the end of September. Thank you to everyone who has already renewed.  if you are not already a member, you can join  MCG in two ways. Individual memberships are  $50 pa and family membership $75 pa.  There is a $1 joining fee.  Just email us at this email address and we can send you all the information.

Gardening membership fees go towards the costs of insurance, building beds, planting, maintenance and advocacy.  Gardening members share in the planting, care and harvesting of beds. MCG provides support to organisations and individuals setting up gardens and we are working with Mosman Council to establish more gardens in the suburb. We are also very keen to help people establish verge gardens - let us know if you would like to build one, or know someone that does.

Hope to see you in the gardens sometime.

cheers Tina

TINA JACKSON

President  Mosman Community Gardeners

August News - Keep Australia Beautiful Award

If you would like to receive our monthly e-news contact us at mosmancommunitygardeners@gmail.com 

Keep Australia Beautiful Award

Mosman Community Gardeners has been awarded the Sustainable Garden Award for Mackie Lane Community Garden, ‘Growing Community: creating and nurturing community gardens’ project in the Keep Australia Beautiful NSW Sustainable Cities Awards 2012. 

Riverwood Community Centre and Randwick City Council were runners up. The awards were presented at the Sustainable Cities Awards dinner, hosted by Kogarah City Council and Keep Australia Beautiful NSW on Thursday night, 26th July. 

Bernie Murphy, CEO of Keep Australia Beautiful NSW, said in a media release:  “As a new category this year, Keep Australia Beautiful NSW had high expectations for entries in Sustainable Gardens and we weren’t disappointed. Many gardens across metro Sydney entered and the competition was very close." 

"These gardens are very popular at the moment and are a great place for communities to come together to learn new skills, support healthy habitats, as well as native flora and fauna which are so important in metro areas."

"The long term sustainability of our cities depends on us being able to conserve the natural environment; to live alongside it and incorporate it into our space. We warmly congratulate Mosman Community Gardens, Riverwood Community Centre and Randwick City Council for their outstanding efforts, just as we congratulate all those who entered”. 


Congratulations to everyone who worked on building Mackie Lane, with special thanks to Flicc Walsh who designed the garden and guided its construction.

Mackie Lane News
Mackie Lane is getting ready for Spring: the first of a series of special Saturday sessions has just been held, and the next is planned for Sat 25 Aug at 2pm at Mackie Lane (weather permitting). We have also recently commenced a mid-week session in the garden to which all members are welcome – Wednesday afternoons at 2pm; a quieter time to potter around and especially good for those that find Sunday afternoons a little tricky to manage.

Although the weather has been challenging over winter, Mackie Lane has continued to attract a strong and steady following on Sunday afternoons – all welcome from 3pm.  

We celebrated National Tree Planting Day (Sun 29 July) with the addition of a kaffir lime tree to Mackie Lane for all to enjoy. Sunday 12 August there will be a Worm Farm Demonstration by the Mosman Council Environment and Education Officer, Loani Tierney.

MCG is discussing the possibility of extending Mackie Lane garden with Ausgrid and Mosman Council. Our discussions have been positive and we hope to bring you more news next month.

Middle Head Garden

Gardening times as usual - Tuesdays and Sundays 3-5pm.

North Sydney Council Coal Loader Events

North Sydney Council runs a range of excellent Green events which are free and number of MCG members have been attending. Bookings can be made on line

http://www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/www/html/6126-green-events.asp

Hope to see you at the gardens sometime. 

July News

If you would like to receive our regular e-news contact us at mosmancommunitygardeners@gmail.com

Mackie Lane

Mackie gardeners have elected the Mackie Lane Subcommittee to manage the garden.

•    Chair - Peter Hook

•    Garden Co-ordinator - Silvana Griffin

•    Membership & Secretary MCG - Gill Lee

•    Publicity & President MCG - Tina Jackson

•    Material Supplies / Building - Lachlan Imrie, Chris Lee, Nick Collis-George

•    Childrens’ Activities - Lindy Spencer 

The garden has been in development since October 2011 under the guidance of an MCG appointed interim committee. Our thanks go to members of the interim committee Gill Lee, Nick Collis-George, Tina Jackson and especially garden coordinator Flicc Walsh, who designed the garden, guided construction and devised the first  planting plan.

Mackie Lane  has organised gardening on Wednesday afternoons 2pm to 4 pm and Sundays 3pm to 5pm.

Bendigo Bank

We also have some very good news. Bendigo Bank has provided $1,000 sponsorship support for the Mackie Lane Community Garden. This is a significant contribution and takes some pressure off the cost of maintaining gardens.  Bendigo Bank Mosman is at Military Rd, Spit Junction.

MCG Membership

MCG membership renewals will be forwarded to members in July. if you are not already a member you can join MCG in two ways. Individual memberships are $50 pa and a family membership is $75 pa. There is a $1 joining fee.

Gardening membership fees go towards the costs of insurance, building beds, planting, maintenance and advocacy. Gardening members share in the planting, care and harvesting of beds.

MCG provides support to organisations and individuals setting up gardens and we are working with Mosman Council to establish more gardens in the suburb.

National Permaculture Day 6 May 2012

Mackie Lane Community Garden will be open on Sunday 6 May from 3 pm to 5 pm.

We have transformed an urban industrial site into a thriving community garden and community meeting place. The garden is built from recycled materials on a concrete slab.

We follow permaculture principles.

The garden is managed by Mosman Community Gardeners Inc. New members are welcome.


View Mackie Lane in a larger map

 For a full listing of National Permaculture Day events see their website

Mayor Anne Connon Opens Mackie Lane

Mayor Anne Connon opened Mackie Lane Community Garden on Sunday 26 February.

Our thanks go to Mosman Council, Ausgrid, Bunnings, Honeysuckle Nursery, Kimbriki Recycle Centre and Midas.



You can see some recent coverage of the garden by the  Mosman Daily.
Mosman community garden off the ground
Photos of the Opening


It has been four months since Mosman Community Gardeners starting clearing the site, building beds and planting seeds and seedlings.

The Mackie Lane tab has documented the garden's progress.

Mackie Lane has working bees on Sundays 3.00 to 5.00 with refreshments at 5.00.  Members visit the garden regularly to water and to set up for the working bees. 

The Mackie Lane is located near the corner of Lang St and Military Rd Mosman, next to the Midas car centre.

Our Middle Head Community Garden in the National Park near the forts on Middle Head is open on Tuesday afternoons and Saturday afternoons from 3.00 till 5.00. 


The garden is located at the back of the Soldiers’ Institute building. To see what we are doing, just walk through the NPWS boom gate at the far end of Middle Head Road. Facing you is the NPWS information centre. 


Take the uphill road on the left (Governor’s Road) and continue to the fenced-in wooden building facing the grassed area. Walk round to the back of the building and you will see our three current beds.

Membership of our gardens is open to residents.  You can contact us mosmancommunitygardeners@gmail.com or just come and see us at the gardens.

Grand Opening of Mackie Lane Community Garden on Sunday 26 February

The grand opening of Mackie Lane Community Garden will be on Sunday 26 February between 3 and 5 pm.Come along all welcome.Sausage sizzle and refreshments.


Mosman Mayor, Anne Connon, will officially launch the garden for us, which is looking absolutely fantastic thanks to everyone’s hard work. See the latest photos in the  Mackie Lane tab.


Thanks to our supporters Mosman Council, Ausgrid, Bunnings, Honeysuckle Nursery and Midas  who have been integral to creating the garden and making it such a success.

Come by and see how green and productive it has become. The beds are full of plants, the ponds are installed, the work table is now in position on the western end, the privet is gone to be replaced by a Christmas Bush, and the tool locker is almost been finished, many thanks to Lachlan.  The garden is already producing a wonderful range of vegetables.

New MCG members

Welcome and thank you to the those who have recently joined MCG  – Margie; Caroline, Stuart, Annabelle and Charlotte; Angela; Kirsten and Lachlan; Pamela; Silvana; Jan and Peter; Emma; Rowena, Peter, Nicholas and Max;  Lili, Mike, Joel and  Lina.  We really appreciate your support.


Membership of MCG and the gardens is open to residents. We have lots of information about the gardens and MCG on this website and the best way to find out more about joining is to visit the gardens during opening times.  Mackie Lane garden is open on Sundays 3 pm to 6 pm, Middle garden is open Tuesday and Saturday afternoons from 4-6pm.

Middle Head Community Garden

We now have three new garden beds at Middle Head. See photos in the Middle Head tab.

We look forward to seeing everyone at a garden, but in particular, hope to see you at the Mackie Lane Grand Opening on 26 February.

Verge Gardens

The good news is that more and more verge vegetable gardens are being planted by  Mosman residents.  In late 2010 we counted three gardens, one year later there are nine.

These are gardens around the Mosman in January 2012.


View Verge and Community Gardens in Mosman in a larger map>

You can see more about verge gardens in Mosman, click on the 'Verge Gardens' tab.

 Here are some photos of a few of them.

Rangers Avenue

Clanalpine St - raised walk way




Canrobert St

Congewoi Rd -  Northern Nursery School verge

Extending Middle Head Garden

December was a very busy time for construction at Middle Head and Mackie Lane.  Three new beds have been built at Middle Head making a total of six long beds.  Work continues at Mackie Lane, check out the new wind breaks. There is a collection of photos showing the gardens progressing in the Middle Head and Mackie Lane Photo tabs. 


Membership of our gardens is open to Mosman residents.  You can contact us at mosmancommunitygardeners@gmail.com or just come and see us at the gardens.


Middle Head gardeners usually go on Tuesday afternoons and Saturday afternoons from 4.00 till 6.00.  Mackie Lane has working bees on Sundays 3.00 to 5.00 with refreshments at 5.00.