The lush gardens of Werribee Park have once again been turned into a veggie patch with the 2024 Silverbeet for Food Relief program underway.
Approximately 2000 silverbeet seedlings were recently planted in the park’s parterre (ornamental) garden by members of the Wyndham community – namely the local Karen Aunties from Burma, the ACAH (Australian College of Agriculture and Horticulture), as well as a number of genU all-abilities gardeners.
In six weeks, those same volunteers will begin harvesting the mature silverbeet which will then be collected and sent to Sikh Temple Kitchens and food shares across Wyndham to help feed needy and disadvantaged people in the community.
Parks Victoria’s Werribee Plains chief ranger, James Brincat, said the Sikh community not only cook and distribute meals using the mature silverbeet, they run the entire program.
“They pay for everything from the plants to the rabbit proof fencing to the fertiliser,” Mr Brincat said.
“The Sikh temple pushes out over a thousand meals a week using the silverbeet.”
To do this they need a lot of silverbeet and Mr Brincat said since the program began during Covid 19, that’s never been a problem.
“We push out on average 5000 kilos over the growing season, sometimes we go up to 10,000,” he said, adding that the size of the crop depends on weather and timing.
They’re (silverbeet) a winter crop but they still need a tiny bit of warmth so they put on the growth now while it’s still warm.”
Cade Lucas.
