Joint forces: SAGE and Tuross Mens Shed Bringing veggies to you
What makes a community work is connection and cooperation. If none of us talked to anyone or if we all stayed indoors then nothing much would happen. Fortunately, we do talk to each other and we forge connections with our fellows. Thanks to the combined efforts of the Tuross Mens Shed and Sustainable Agriculture and Gardening Eurobodalla (SAGE), there are now almost 40 people with free garden beds that have been installed through their joint efforts.
The SAGE Veggies for All program was the brainchild of SAGE Executive Member Kathryn Maxwell. The program has been possible thanks to the generosity of generosity of IMB Bank, Bunnings Batemans Bay, Mogendoura Creek Farm, and D&A Excavations and Haulage. Recipients are all concession card holders, and all have been delighted to receive their garden bed, veggie mix, sugar cane mulch and seedlings. The installation team carries out installation work including fitting the beds and delivering a cubic metre of veggie mix.” Members of the Tuross Head Mens Shed came out in force to assist SAGE with installing veggie beds in backyards around Tuross Head. Steve Ryder, Ken Parker, Greg Campbell, Leo Demchy and Ivon Balentovic took to shovels and wheelbarrows to make light work of installing 2 x 1 metre garden beds with veggie mix, sugarcane mulch and seedlings.
The Tuross Head Mens Shed has recently celebrated their fifth anniversary and currently has 55 members. On Mondays men are hard at work making things, on Tuesday afternoons they play cards, Wednesday afternoons they play snooker, Thursday afternoon is their social day with tea, coffee and snags and on Friday afternoons they play table tennis. On 16 November, they are having a morning meeting followed by a lunch. The Mens Shed is located behind the Tuross Head Country Club. As of 3 November, SAGE has installed 38 garden beds across the South Coast. In addition, 122 people have attended Veggies for All workshops held at the Moruya, Tuross and Narooma community gardens. This has only been possible with the generosity of the IMB Bank Community Foundation and Bunnings Batemans Bay. For more information on the Tuross Head Mens Shed contact Steve Ryder on 0412 623 865 or at magpiesnest42@gmail.com Information about SAGE, and how to join, is at sageproject.org.au and information about the Farmers Market is at sagefarmersmarket.org.au
