NECCHi

We are celebrating the Wurundjeri season of Buarth Gurru (grass flowering) and community food growing! Come and learn about sustainable food growing, collective cooking, habitat gardening and attend a Wurundjeri education session. Workshops will run simultaneously over the 15th & 16th of November and be held at both NECCHi houses and on the Merri Creek. Children under 12 free.  Brought to you by the Wayi community gardeners and proudly supported by Merri-Bek Council.

Learn how to propagate indigenous plants in the NECCHi Newlands garden with Chris from Nangak Tamboree Nursery (La Trobe University). He will demonstrate various plant propagation techniques and discuss resources, treatments and tips to help you propagate plants in your own garden. Participants will also have the opportunity ask questions and get involved with some hands on seed sorting and cutting propagation. Propagating these plants is a great skill to have to help increase local habitat! Book now Join Draw Plants Together for a friendly inclusive twilight plant drawing session celebrating the Wurundjeri season ‘Buath Gurru’ (grass flowering). A fun and creative two hours, come hang out with grasses and their allies and experiment with drawing :)   Book now

Seed for home gardens is free in seed libraries and at food swaps. So if you're saving seed, it's good to know how to get strong seed to offer. Seed saving is an amazing story of cultural lineage and human survival. Annie Bolitho was a founding member of the Australian Seed Savers Network, come and learn about the seven simple questions to ask when saving seed, to ensure strong seed and plants. Book now Onigiri has been used as portable food from ancient times to the present day! It is a healthy, easy to make Japanese rice ball. Originally, it was used as a way to use and store left-over rice. Come and learn how to make onigiri using local, seasonal produce with Mifumi Obata. It's zero waste, vegan, gluten free, lunchbox friendly.  We will be sourcing local produce from amazing nearby urban farms including Farm Raiser and Sun Patch.  Book now

BYO Twilight Picnic in the Wayi Garden! It’s Buarth Gurru (grass flowering) season – listen to the rustling of the grasses, watch them shimmer and shake as the sun sets. Featuring live music by Xiao Xiao, cello inspired by grasslands wildflowers, and River Arumets, harp in collaboration with the garden. BYO picnic food, rug, & friends :) Sweets & garden-inspired drinks available at Brewlands - don't forget your keep cup! Book now

Join NECCHI musician/artists in residence, Ria Soemardjo and Vanessa Chapple in a contemplative morning walk along Merri Creek. This collective walk is a wonderful opportunity to take time to tune into the current season of Buarth Gurru - grass flowering. Book now Walk along the creek and learn about native grassland species with Pascale Pitot – see the plants in a bushland setting and find out about how to work with them in your garden to create habitat for local birds, butterflies, lizards and other insects. Victorian grasslands are critically endangered. Learn how we can care for them and extend habitat by planting these species in our gardens.  Book now

Come and join a family friendly birding walk along the merri merri with champion Tawny Frogmouth spotter Arimbi Winoto from Friends of Merri Creek. Book now Heirloom corn (maize) has co-evolved with humans for more than 7,000 years and is probably the most famous flowering grass in the world today!  Meg Kimber grows corn across a network of urban growing sites and communities in Naarm Melbourne. Come and hear about the relationships that have grown and what Meg has learnt from maize.  Book now

Book now Please use the code SOLIDARITY for flexibly priced Solidarity Admission: First Nations People, People from refugee backgrounds, unwaged, concession Please use the code CHILD for free tickets for children under 12 year old. All children must be accompanied by an adult with a ticket.  Please email programs@necchi.org if any questions about tickets.

We respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional owners of the land on which the festival is held. We acknowledge that they have never ceded sovereignty and remain strong in their enduring connection to Country and culture.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY CLAIRE MOSLEY Newlands Neighbourhood House 20 Murray Rd Coburg North VIC 3058 Ph 03 8528 2332 enquiries@necchi.org www.necchi.org East Coburg Neighbourhood House 32 Nicholson St Coburg VIC 3058 Ph 03 9913 5472