{"id":1287,"date":"2018-05-17T23:05:31","date_gmt":"2018-05-17T23:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/?p=1287"},"modified":"2018-05-17T23:20:28","modified_gmt":"2018-05-17T23:20:28","slug":"pentridge-community-garden-first-gardeners-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/2018\/05\/pentridge-community-garden-first-gardeners-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentridge Community Garden &#8211; First Hash House Gardeners visit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I have been receiving positive feedback about my idea to establish the Hash House Gardeners, a group of gardeners who visit other community gardens, getting a little exercise and sharing knowledge while sharing a beverage and a bite to eat after the exchange. Modelled on the famous <a href=\"http:\/\/gotothehash.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hash House Harriers<\/a>, described as a club for drinkers with a running problem, I thought I could find kindred spirit (no pun intended) in the community gardening environment. It appears that there is a lot of interest.<\/p>\n<p>I wanted to walk (or rather ride) the talk by visiting a community garden that was celebrating a milestone.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Pentridge Community Garden\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/xsymetrix\/40810883595\/in\/album-72157694349582601\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\" data-header=\"true\" data-footer=\"true\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.staticflickr.com\/868\/40810883595_e41d68cd43_z.jpg?resize=640%2C480&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Pentridge Community Garden\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With words like &#8220;Hash&#8221; and talk of alcohol painting a confusing picture in my head for what I intended this group of gardeners to be, I headed to the inaugural anniversary of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.morelandcommunitygardening.org\/p\/pentridge-community-garden.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pentridge Community Garden<\/a> who had sent out an invite received from another community garden, the Courtney St Community Garden.<\/p>\n<p>I thought that the name <strong>Hash House Gardeners<\/strong> might need changing while keeping the spirit of the origin of the concept, the <strong>Hash House Harriers<\/strong>. So initially I opted for <strong>Hashtag House Gardeners<\/strong>, or <strong>#HouseGardeners<\/strong> for short. If you are reading this blog then you will know what a hashtag is. In researching the history and locations of Hash House Harriers clubs, it seems that in todays world, they too have to make a clear distinction of what their &#8220;hash&#8221; stands for compared to what most people think of when that word is mentioned. To save you looking it up, it refers to the original formally documented club meeting location &#8211; the Hash House &#8211; hash in this case meaning food, if you can imagine lining up in a mess to eat hash back in the days of British soldiers posted overseas, then the word takes on a far more nostalgic meaning.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"20171209-IMG_6558_(1).jpg\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/xsymetrix\/39818847504\/in\/album-72157692204242591\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\" data-header=\"true\" data-footer=\"true\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4741\/39818847504_1e7e5e77e6.jpg?resize=500%2C375&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"20171209-IMG_6558_(1).jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>There are no plans however to have hordes of khaki shirted, pith helmet wearing gardeners wandering the streets of Melbourne&#8217;s suburbs in search of community gardens to visit. One of the founding principles of the Hash House Harriers is that there are no rules and that is a tradition worth keeping.<\/p>\n<p>I rode the 10 km along the bike path that connects our community garden in Davis St to the Pentridge Community Garden &#8211; which took 45 minutes and provided me with\u00a0a seemingly never-ending tapestry of colour. Graffiti &#8211; when done well is not graffiti but art. The art created along the bike path, which also follows the train tracks across to Coburg, the suburb housing this famous remnant of a prison known to many Australians.<\/p>\n<p>So, yes, the Pentridge Community Garden is nestled within the bluestone walls and warden towers. None of the community gardens I have visited have such an interesting view with the exception of the gardens at Ripponlea, Captain Cook&#8217;s Cottage or the Botanic Gardens &#8211; alright, so there are some other gardens nestled in very picturesque locations, however, this is a community garden whereas the others are part of the heritage location they are in.<\/p>\n<p>The warm greeting extended by the gardeners was great with produce, tea and cake to share. The great thing about gardening is that everyone is equal and always trying to grow plants while tackling the ever present challenges of weather, water, pests and weeds. The knowledge sharing between gardeners and their gardens makes me feel like a visitor from another village being welcomed and shown around.<a title=\"Pentridge Community Garden\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/xsymetrix\/41670190892\/in\/album-72157694349582601\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\" data-header=\"true\" data-footer=\"true\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.staticflickr.com\/871\/41670190892_c7857a4769_m.jpg?resize=240%2C180&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Pentridge Community Garden\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>There was an overview of the history of the garden and a call to action for local gardeners before we toured the plots. The garden, like ours has a mixture of community plots and private plots. The amount of land allocated is substantial.<\/p>\n<p>The garden also had some interesting items. A massive electric saw for creating planks out of felled trees. These I believe are used to create the wooden vegetable plots.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Pentridge Community Garden\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/xsymetrix\/41670265392\/in\/album-72157694349582601\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\" data-header=\"true\" data-footer=\"true\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.staticflickr.com\/868\/41670265392_3acd604e10_m.jpg?resize=240%2C180&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Pentridge Community Garden\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Another item was an elaborately tiled basin with scrabble letters embedded in to the tiling spelling &#8220;Pentridge Community Garden&#8221; &#8211; very nice.<\/p>\n<p>A shipping container stores tools and equipment.<\/p>\n<p>The gardeners were looking at creating wicking beds out of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intermediate_bulk_container\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IBC Containers<\/a> shown in the photo below. There is a <a href=\"http:\/\/ibc container gardening australia wicking bed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">good how to video on gardening australia<\/a> showing one being converted.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Pentridge Community Garden\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/xsymetrix\/27841530808\/in\/album-72157694349582601\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\" data-header=\"true\" data-footer=\"true\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.staticflickr.com\/944\/27841530808_247aede446_n.jpg?resize=320%2C240&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Pentridge Community Garden\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\u00a0An IBC container in the foreground and the imposing structure of Pentridge Goal in the background, looking over the garden, ensuring no vegetables escape.<\/p>\n<p>After a great visit I made my way back to Kensington where along the way I had an opportunity to think about this group of #HouseGardeners.<\/p>\n<p>Firstly all people involved or interested in community gardens are gardeners, so I though of simplifying the name to #Gardeners &#8211; which of course could never be registered because of its generic nature &#8211; but I think that is the point &#8211; non-exclusivity, or to put in a way I would intend &#8211; inclusivity.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Pentridge Community Garden\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/xsymetrix\/albums\/72157694349582601\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\" data-header=\"true\" data-footer=\"true\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.staticflickr.com\/870\/41670232792_d206625b3a.jpg?resize=500%2C375&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Pentridge Community Garden\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Here is a link to all the photographs I took on the day &#8211; a tribute to a great community garden and great group of people. I even met an archeologist who was one of the gardeners &#8211; you don&#8217;t bump into an archeologist every day &#8211; although I do totally understand their affinity with wanting to dig in the garden.<\/p>\n<p>The Hash House Harriers have a logo of a foot with the words &#8220;On On&#8221; written on it. I am not there yet, but this is my starting point.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"hashtaggardeners\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/xsymetrix\/28288206278\/in\/album-72157692204242591\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\" data-header=\"true\" data-footer=\"true\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.staticflickr.com\/981\/28288206278_9b4a7494f9_n.jpg?resize=320%2C293&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"hashtaggardeners\" width=\"320\" height=\"293\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>So spurred on by a wonderful visit, I have mapped out some walks to other gardens, some of which are very small and where we can only peer through fences, but it is a start. Check out the map below for our first planned walk which is almost 5k and certain to build a thirst by the end.<\/p>\n<p>On On&#8230; or should it be Dig Dig!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/embed?mid=1NIbOwt_FYQq2NaNfBtnwPTTuRUQKVsxD&amp;hl=en\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have been receiving positive feedback about my idea to establish the Hash House Gardeners, a group of gardeners who visit other community gardens, getting a little exercise and sharing knowledge while sharing a&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Pentridge Community Garden - First #Gardeners visit by Davis St Gardeners and the Hash House Gardeners.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[399,400,347,354,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gardeners","category-city-of-melbourne","category-community","category-davis-st-garden","category-gardens"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/pentridgecommunitygarden.jpg?fit=2000%2C1500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9FFqw-kL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1261,"url":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/2018\/04\/chilli-sauce-recipe\/","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":0},"title":"Chilli Sauce Recipe","author":"xsymetrix","date":"April 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"With our amazing climate change weather we have being experiencing in Melbourne, we have chillies growing and fruiting in mid April. This gave me an excuse to drag out an old recipe I created and filmed a few years ago when the Jolokia chilli held the record as the hottest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Chilli&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Chilli","link":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/category\/chilli\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/habaneros.jpg?fit=1200%2C1105&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/habaneros.jpg?fit=1200%2C1105&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/habaneros.jpg?fit=1200%2C1105&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/habaneros.jpg?fit=1200%2C1105&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/habaneros.jpg?fit=1200%2C1105&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1323,"url":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/2018\/06\/harvesting-in-the-rain\/","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":1},"title":"Harvesting in the rain","author":"xsymetrix","date":"June 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Last weekend provided a reminder that it is in fact winter with a combination of wind, rain and low temperatures that laid waste to our plans of holding a working bee. Not to be deterred I braved the elements for a harvest that was converted into a an almost vegetarian\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#Gardeners&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#Gardeners","link":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/category\/gardeners\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_8662.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_8662.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_8662.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_8662.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1310,"url":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/2018\/05\/winter-might-be-approaching-but\/","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":2},"title":"Winter might be approaching, but&#8230;here is a gardening story including our first #gardeners walk","author":"xsymetrix","date":"May 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Taking a (celery) leaf out of Kevin's book, I took the base of a celery purchased from our local supermarket, placed three toothpicks in the bottom of the stump to create a tripod and placed that in water until roots started and fresh leaves appeared. I then planted the celery\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#Gardeners&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#Gardeners","link":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/category\/gardeners\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/gardener1.jpg?fit=1200%2C370&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/gardener1.jpg?fit=1200%2C370&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/gardener1.jpg?fit=1200%2C370&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/gardener1.jpg?fit=1200%2C370&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/gardener1.jpg?fit=1200%2C370&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1352,"url":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/2019\/04\/did-we-skip-autumn\/","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":3},"title":"Did we skip autumn?","author":"xsymetrix","date":"April 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Just around the corner from the Davis St Community Garden on Parson's Street is a house with a vine which does all the right things from a colour perspective come Autumn. Walking back from the local supermarket at this time of year I look forward to the rapid change in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#Gardeners&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#Gardeners","link":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/category\/gardeners\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_1287.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":706,"url":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/2017\/08\/our-garden-is-almost-a-year-old\/","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":4},"title":"Our garden is almost a year old","author":"xsymetrix","date":"August 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to believe that the community garden on Davis Street has been growing vegetables for almost a year. That also means that my family has spent a year down in Melbourne after moving from Darwin. A bit like the seedlings planted in the community garden our life in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Davis St Garden&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Davis St Garden","link":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/category\/davis-st-garden\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/img_2806.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/img_2806.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/img_2806.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1361,"url":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/2023\/07\/flowers-gardens-and-more-around-flemington-and-beyond\/","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":5},"title":"Flowers, Gardens and more around Flemington and beyond","author":"xsymetrix","date":"July 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Much has happened since I started the draft of this post 3 years ago. For starters, two Melbourne Garden Shows have taken place and I think I will simply dedicate this post to those two events. For some reason, and I hope it is good, I seem to have more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Community","link":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/category\/community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_4100-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C354&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_4100-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C354&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_4100-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C354&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_4100-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C354&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_4100-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C354&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1287"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1305,"href":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287\/revisions\/1305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xsymetrix.com.au\/garden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}