Urban Orchard project

10am til noon at Ceres Market on Saturdays

Background
The CERES Urban Orchard Project is a collection of folk from over 170 households across the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne who are interested in swapping and sharing the products of their backyard gardens.
Initially with a focus on utilising unused fruit from the abundant plantings across Brunswick and Northcote, the project has spread to vegetables, herbs and beyond.
Those with produce to swap gather every Saturday at the CERES Organic Market. Participants meet to share fruit, vegetables, herbs, gardening tips and stories. Lemons are swapped for apricots, apples for tomatoes, basil for nectarines, recipes for gardening tips, on a completely informal and friendly basis.

Why?

• To provide an opportunity for people to utilise otherwise-wasted fruit, veg, herbs, etc.
• To create friendships within the neighbourhood and build stronger local communities
• To reduce green waste and pressure on landfill
• To provide healthy in-season food for the community
• To reduce the need to transport produce from outside the city / state / country! – less transport means less fuel burned, hence reduced pollution and greenhouse gas emissions

Join In
If you live in the inner northern suburbs and would like the opportunity to swap your excess backyard produce with others from the area, please come down one Saturday morning and visit our stall.
We have a questionaire for those who would like to join our database. Click here to download.

For more infomation
Urban Orchard has a web stories page created by Camilla MacTier. Have a look here and click on the apples.
Email us : urbanorchard@ceres.org.au

Other harvest projects include:

If you've got a food swap going on in your neighbourhood and would like it listed please email the name of your swap, it's location, swap dates and any email, phone, website contact and info details to chris@ceres.org.au.