Sustainable Macleod Community Garden
How the Sustainable Macleod Community Garden works
Sustainable Macleod Community Garden is gardened communally, growing a wide range of vegetables, berries, orchard fruit and herbs. There are no individual plots. The garden is overseen by a management group but essentially everyone who comes to the garden is involved in planning, gardening, growing seedlings, other projects and setting the direction of the garden.
At the end of each session, produce from the garden is divided between those people who have worked in the garden that day.
What goes on at the garden
The community garden hosts regular workshops and events which are free to members ($15 to non members) plus occasionally a fee to cover the cost of materials for particular workshops. It also holds numerous social events including pizza nights, afternoon teas and the Sustainable Macleod Christmas and New Year parties.
Members of Sustainable Macleod Community Garden have in the last 8 years built a shelter, a commercial pizza oven, 2 polytunnels, 11 wicking beds, and a 6 bay compost system, as well as many raised garden beds. Members installed 20 x 1000 litre water tanks in 2016 but these have now been replaced (March 2024) with 2 x 15,000 litre and 1 x 2,500 litre commercial tanks, an off grid solar system and 3 shipping container secure storage units, one of which houses the reference library and the other the tool lending library
During the Coronavirus pandemic, Sustainable Macleod supplied BANSIC with hundreds of kilos of fruit and vegetables from the community garden plus seedlings, and masks made by members, for distribution to those doing it tough in the Banyule community
Membership of Sustainable Macleod which includes membership of the garden is $30 for a calendar year. Non members are always welcome to visit the garden as are children, but unfortunately dogs are not permitted at the community garden.
Garden Policy Documents
Visit us
Everyone is welcome to visit us! The Sustainable Macleod Community Garden is located on Somers Ave, directly across the oval from the end of Strathallan Road, Macleod. Please note: dogs are not permitted at the community garden.
Opening Hours
The Sustainable Macleod Community Garden is open Wednesdays and Saturdays 1 - 5pm in summer: 1 - 4pm in winter.
Please note that Macleod College has asked us not to bring cars (and therefore trailers) into the carpark area on Wednesdays while school is in session.
How the Sustainable Macleod Community Garden began
In 2015, Sustainable Macleod acquired 2 disused tennis courts at the back of Macleod College and set about transforming the En Tous Cas surface, which contained not an ounce of nutrient, into the flourishing, fertile garden it is today. The project was initially named the Macleod Organic Community Garden and subsequently changed to Sustainable Macleod Community Garden in 2023.
Latest gardening tips from our blog
Why are my tomatoes still green?
There’s been a fair bit of consternation this tomato season about when, or if, tomatoes are going to ripen. The good news is that they probably will but there are some things to take into account and some not to do. Like all vegetables, the movement from seed or...
What is eating my tomatoes?
If your tomatoes have large bites out of them or are half eaten, it will be rats or possums. If they have round holes that contain a calloused concave depression with solid edges, it will be the green caterpillar as seen in the photo below. If you cut open your...
Watering and feeding indigenous plants
A common assumption about indigenous plants is that once they’re in the ground, they’ll look after themselves. While it’s true that local plants are generally tougher and lower-maintenance than many exotics, they’re not completely hands-off—especially at the start....
Join Sustainable Macleod
Become a member and get access to the community garden, the tool library and our seed library. We welcome all members of the community and have regular events and workshops to enjoy.