Meeting Minutes

MINUTES – UYVG CLUB MEMBERS’ MEETING

MONDAY 20th APRIL 2026

OSCAR’S, WARBURTON

MEETING OPEN: 7.07 pm

  1. ATTENDANCE

Meeting was chaired by Vice-president Ashleigh Hall, who welcomed all, including new members Jonathan Pietsch and Karen Dymke, and visitor Joe Butler.

 Apologies: as listed in the attendance book, plus Lynn Davis

  • STEWARDS

Supper:  Sue Gill

Welcome:  Margaret Dimsey

Raffle tickets: Jenny Perkins

3  PROPOSED TRIP TO CRANBOURNE BOTANICAL GARDENS

Subject to fuel availability, we are planning a bus trip to the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens on 19th October, instead of the October garden walk.  Joe Pegels gave a brief talk on the trip and called for expressions of interest,  to give us an indication of the size of bus required. Costs are a bit hard to estimate at present, but the Club will subsidize some of the trip. Commercial bus quotes were $800 (28 persons) and $1500.  There is also the much cheaper possibility of using the community bus, providing we can find a driver.

4     SPEAKER

Member Kelly Frost gave a very entertaining talk about her 1-acre plot in Gladysdale.

  • She  did not plan to be a gardener, it just happened; and now, after several earlier gardening experiences growing up, she is the passionate owner of a highly productive food garden.
  • Her block was bare when she started.  The soil in Gladysdale is clay, with minimal topsoil: heavy and sticky in the winter and hard enough to need jack-hammering in the summer.
  •  The property is open, which means it gets a lot of sun, but this is counterbalanced by heavy frosts in the winter. The best position is in the front garden, so this is where she grows her vegetables. No roses in Kelly’s garden!
  • The vegetable garden provides food all year round.  Kelly no longer turns the soil; she just adds to it.  She doesn’t pull plants out, but cuts them off at the base and leaves the roots in the soil. She feeds the soil, and the soil feeds her.
  • She has six chooks which turn the soil and add their manure to the garden. In their chook-run she has provided a mirror for their entertainment (they love looking at themselves – and the mirror reflects sun into the garden in the winter!). The run provides a frame for a kiwi vine, which in turn provides shade for the chooks in summer.  
  • No artificial fertilizers are used; instead, Kelly makes comfrey tea and of course compost.  She has put a number of terracotta pipes around the garden for composting and has found them to be very successful. In summer she fills them with water, which slowly percolates into the soil. 
  • Water is the biggest challenge: the garden relies solely on rainwater. There is a simple irrigation system which runs from a tank at the back of the property, but because summer water must be conserved, there are some vegetables she does not grow because of their high water requirements, e.g. sweetcorn. 
  • Kelly’s fruit forest is located beside the driveway – a less-than-ideal position due to neighbouring eucalypts, but it is protected from frosts by the trees, and makes good use of a long, narrow space. Thanks to loads and loads of chook litter, sugar-cane mulch, and sheep manure from a neighbour, she has succeeded in growing twenty-eight edible plant varieties there.  She also grows salvias to attract blue-banded bees and is creating an insect hotel in the hope of attracting still more pollinators.
  • Mushroom-growing is another project – growing them in a beeswax-coated oak log.  She also grows oregano as a ground cover and as a living mulch to retain moisture, and also rhubarb,  and a thornless blackberry arch, and lots more! Everywhere in the garden there are things to eat – a total of 81 different varieties of edible plants.
  • She has been recording her harvest by weight for the last two years: 101kg in 2024 and 121 kg in 2025.  She makes jams, pickles, cordials, smoothies, cakes, slices, biscuits, pies, chutney, relish and crumbles. A selection of what she grew and made was displayed at tonight’s meeting.
  • Her advice to members is to start by growing something they love to eat!

SUPPER BREAK

  • MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

Minutes of the March meeting were available on the welcome table.

Motion   That the minutes of the meeting on 16th March be accepted

        Moved: Mavis Clifford                   Seconded: Dot Wynd

        Carried.

  • SECRETARY’S REPORT

Correspondence  in: nil

Correspondence out:  nil

  • TREASURER’S REPORT

Attached as an appendix, p.3.  The report has already been approved by the Committee

Motion:   That the Treasurer’s report be accepted

        Moved: Eric Felber                         Seconded: Kate Blanchard

        Carried.

Last year the Garden Club made a donation of $1675 to the Warburton Community Garden.  Tarnya reported that our donation has been spent on the construction of a concrete slab for the compost bay area.

  • MEMBERSHIP REPORT

We welcome new member Elizabeth Mamacos.  An application has been received from Peter Hagen and will be considered by the Committee at its next meeting in May. We now have 115 financial members. 

  • OPEN GARDEN WEEKEND, NOVEMBER 2026

Now that the autumn weather has   arrived it is time to start potting-up plants for the Plant Stall.  Potting mix and pots are available at Janet and Eric’s garden, 13 Greenridge Court Yarra Junction. Please ring  or text before you come, 0419 989 690 .

Clipboard was passed around for people to volunteer to man one of the gates at the OG weekend.

10    GARDEN WALKS

This month’s garden walk is at Robert Aitken’s garden, “Blanchfields”, 305 Tschampions Road Macclesfield, from 10 am.  Robert is a relatively  new member so we are all very keen to see his garden, which is 33 acres in area. Wear sensible shoes and come with a sense of adventure. BYO chair, mug and a plate of something to share for morning tea.

With the current petrol prices, members may wish to car-pool. It is suggested that passengers offer to share the petrol costs.  Come from the Macclesfield Rd end to avoid the gravel section of Tschampions Rd.

  1. PLANT OF THE MONTH/POPULAR VOTE

Dahlia.  Judged by Kelly. Winner was  Natasha watkins

Popular vote winner was  Kerry Kurka with a Pilea grandiflora

  1. RAFFLE

Winners were Joe Pegels, Kerry Kurka, Mavis Clifford, Dale Filardo, Robert Pike.

  1. MEMBERS’ DRAW

Winner was Michael Markey, who was not present, so the prize jackpots to $100 at the next meeting.

  1. OTHER BUSINESS

Tarnya reported that there will be a fruit workshop  at the Community Garden, Warburton, from 10am – 12pm this coming Sunday 26th April.  It will be facilitated by a local expert.

MEETING CLOSED:  8.45 pm.

NEXT MEETING: 18th May 2026, 7.00 pm at Oscar’s