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Save Water and the Vegie Patch Forum - A Huge Success!

Public Forum held on 1st October

  • Hundreds attend a  public forum about the importance of growing our own food
  • Advice from garden experts - Jane Edmanson, David Holmgren, Clive Blazey, Helen Tuton
  • Having your own vegie patch can mean you actually save water
  • We don't need to water more, just differently.

There is a growing awareness about the importance of growing our own food, as described by Peter Cundall in an article in this Sunday's Age (October 5th), and the emergence of a number of organisations of interested individuals committed to home and community food gardens.

The Food Gardeners Alliance (FGA ) brings together people from a number of these other groups, professional, home and community gardeners, horticulturalists, educators to promote the importance of growing our own food locally for many environmental, social and health reasons (for more details see www.fga.org.au), and help make this possible.

One of the most pressing issues is the availability of water for use on vegetables, so we held a public forum on this issue on 1st October at the Brunswick town hall. There is certainly community concern about this issue, as shown by more than 250 people who made it to the meeting, and the many messages of support received.

We had four knowledgable and impassioned speakers at the forum:

  • David Holmgren (www.holmgren.com.au) compared the water needed for commercial and home vegetable production
  • Clive Blazey (www.diggers.com.au) explained the cultural importance of growing your own vegetables, and what is available.
  • Jane Edmanson, (www.janesgarden.com.au) outlined some of the benefits of gardening- and the need for a passion for the garden.
  • Helen Tuton (www.sgaonline.org.au) gave us some hints on helping our vegetables survive on limited water - the need for education, improved soil, mulching, improved tank rebates including for renters.
  • Colleen Hartland (Australian Greens) and Carlo Carli (ALP) who are both supportive of produce gardening, also attended and gave us some advice .

Forum speakers panel
We have also tabled a petitionwith more than 3,000 signatures to state parliament, and held a Parliamentary forum in September which resulted in a productive discussion with state politicians
 
So, in conclusion, we believe that it is vital that vegetable gardeners can continue to water their gardens. Thisuses water much more efficiently than buying our produce from the supermarket.
 
When water restrictions are being considered, we need to evaluate options such as:

  • Water Quotas or Targets 
  • Tanks / Rebates – including incentives for landlords and renters. 
  • Education. 
  • Exemptions – Similar to current “New Pool” exemption
  • Water Savings inside
  • Shorter times, increased frequency watering– Buckets, automatic timers.
  • High Temperature Triggers 
  • Evening Watering During Summer


For more information about the Food Gardeners Alliance please contact :
Jonathan Pipke Mob: 0412.665.216  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Meredith Plain This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

We have an audio and video record of the forum
 
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