Mother’s Day at the Farm, volunteers, education, Winter Solstice. Read the full newsletter HERE.
Northey Street City Farm publishes a free electronic newsletter every month.
To subscribe to our monthly free e-newsletter CLICK HERE.
The newsletter will go to your inbox once a month to let you know what is happening at the farm.
Do you have excellent interpersonal and communication skills and an ability to relate well within a diverse community? Would you like to deliver interesting and exciting educational opportunities to youth?
Northey Street City Farm
….. a place for learning about living sustainably in the city
POSITION DESCRIPTION
Position: Youth Educator
Employment: Casual, as per NSCF Staff Agreement, Level 2
Day & Hours: As required, including occasional weekends.
Pay rate: $29.55 per hour, with penalty rates paid on weekends
Contract Position: Casual
Responsible to: Youth Education Co-ordinator
Responsibilities
Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (Selection Criteria)
Essential
Desirable
Working Environment
Northey Street City Farm is a non-profit community project on the banks of Brisbane’s Breakfast Creek in the inner city suburb of Windsor. It has been developed for people to enjoy and participate in using the principles of Permaculture. It is also intended to be a demonstration site where people of all ages can learn through practical, hands on experience.
NSCF Vision: All living sustainably
NSCF Purpose: Our purpose is to be an inspirational working model of a community-based urban permaculture farm which promotes and educates for sustainability.
Applications:
www.nscf.org.au Phone: 07-38578775 Email: info@nscf.org.au
We’ve had an influx recently of people asking ‘How do I stop the local possum from eating all my plants’ and ‘How do I keep possums out of my garden?’ To this, we say ‘Lucky you!’ Believe us, the Nursery has its own fair share of pesky possums trying to eat up the herbs and veggies in the night – in fact, you’ve probably seen the nets and covers we place over the plants to protect them – and we’ve always considered ourselves extremely lucky to have wildlife in a highly suburban-industrial area. Just because we’re all lucky, doesn’t mean we can’t protect our plants!
The ’why’ is the first thing to consider when dealing with pests like possums: acknowledge that we live in a society that idealises suburbs filled with fence-to-fence grass backyards. This often forces wildlife like possums to get creative with where they live and what they scavenge. Thus, if you notice possums sleeping in your gutters and eating your lemon trees, then they probably have nowhere to go and are very desperate. Of course, we want our lemon trees to survive too! In these situations, instead of trying to get rid of them, think of the permaculture principles and remember that it is easier to work with the environment than against it. For enviro-friendly possum prevention methods, try out some of the following – and remember: everyone’s garden is a little different, so you may need to mix and match a couple of different options.
Prevention
Make a homemade mix of chilli, garlic, tea, or lemon to spray onto the affected plants– there are plenty of quality online recipes.
Fence off specific areas or cover plants in mesh (ensure you use bird and bat safe netting!)
Grow citronella or garlic plants amongst the affected plants–garlic chives, leeks, and citronella geraniums are all good choices.
Offer them alternative options
Provide a tray of fruit and salad scraps – like putting out bird seed.
Select a plant that will act as a gift (or sacrifice) and place it near the possum’s trail and allow them to eat it.
Gift them a nesting box! Place it in the garden away from the plants they eat and/or near the area they are currently sleeping in.
A quarterly First Nations food and medicine gathering, for mob by mob. Families welcome.
All First Nations mobs are welcome to come along and enjoy a morning of sitting, talking, sharing, and learning around urban-based bush foods and medicines.
The events will be held every three months and will include sharing around propagating from seeds/cuttings, soil health, using and identifying foods/medicines, foraging and ‘guerrilla gardening’, connecting stories, and sharing resources.
There will also be some native grain damper cook-ups, native grass weaving, and cups of tea by the fire.
BYO seeds, cuttings, or foods/medicines to share, or just come along and take some plants home.
The Northey Street City Farm markets will be happening from 6 am – 11 am, for you to enjoy as well.
Hope to see you there!
For more information, please email Dominique Chen – info@walkingstory.com.au.
Date of next gathering TBC, 11 am to 2 pm
At Northey Street City Farm, 16 Victoria St, Windsor.
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