ABC garden expert Costa Georgiadis will also officially launch a new seed lending initiative at Port Macquarie Library on Monday.
Established as part of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council’s Move Eat Live Well program, the library is one of the first of its kind in Australia.
Costa will also officially open a new community garden fronting Gordon Street aimed at library users.
The official ceremony will commence at 11am with guests invited to stay for a healthy morning tea, to learn more about the seed lending library and to inspect progress on the community garden.
The council’s healthy communities co-ordinator Maya Spannari said the primary aim of both the seed lending library and the community garden was to get people thinking about healthy eating and healthy lifestyles.
The seed lending library will provide free seeds on loan to library members, encouraging them to grow healthy food and to provide them greater access to fresh fruit and vegetables.
Those people who are successful in harvesting the high-quality, non-hybrid seeds will simply be asked to return some of them to the library. People will also be asked to share excess seeds, seedlings and produce with their local community gardens, neighbours and services such as soup kitchens and refuges.
Library staff will manage the cataloguing, storage and loan process and will also develop educational tools to teach people how to successfully grow from seed.
The library’s new community garden has been established on the northern side of the library (fronting Gordon Street) and consists of a number of raised beds. It has already been planted by volunteers.
The garden will be managed and maintained by volunteers and will be used to promote the growing of food, healthy eating and exercise. Library staff will assist by developing educational resources and running workshops to teach people about gardening.
