Summer 2026 Newsletter
Hello Gardeners,
As the summer sun reaches its peak, the community garden has truly come alive with colour and activity. It’s the season of abundance, and we have a lot to share with you.
Read on to see what’s been happening and events we have planned in the coming months!
Working Bees & Morning Tea
1 February 2026 & 1 March 2026 10:30am
Working Bees are a great way to get involved in the garden and to get to know your fellow community gardeners.
We’ll begin with a morning tea, allowing garden members and participants to mingle and get to know each other. After enjoying a chat and cuppa, we will discuss the various tasks that need attention in the garden and offer guidance for those eager to contribute to its care. Then, it will be time to roll up our sleeves and get gardening!
What to bring: Gardening gloves, secateurs, water bottle, sunscreen & hat
SENSORY GARDEN UPGRADE
The Sensory Garden will be undergoing a revamp in 2026. The first planning session will be at the morning tea on Wednesday 14 January at 10:00am, and it would be great to have members involved.
This upgrade will be led by Beau, the Chair of the Garden Committee. If you are unable to make the planning session, please get in touch with Beau by email to northbrightoncg@gmail.com
NEW MEMBER ORIENTATIONS
New Member Orientations are held on the 1st Sunday of each month at 10.30am. If you have recently joined as a garden member or want to learn about what we do and how you can be involved in the garden, come along to a new member orientation session. No booking required.
WEDNESDAY MORNING TEA
Morning Tea is held every Wednesday at 10:00am. Have a world-famous brownie recipe? Bring it along to our regular social event where everyone is welcome to come along for a cuppa, chat and share a bite to eat. We’ll often stay back to do a few jobs as well.
What to bring: Gardening gloves, drink bottle, plate of food to share (encouraged but not compulsory)
WHAT HAS BEEN GROWING IN THE GARDEN?
Our members shared some beautiful plums picked at our January working bee, and colourful strawflowers have been blooming all over the garden.
WHAT TO PLANT AND JOBS TO DO IN THE GARDEN THIS SEASON
Now is a great time to keep planting hot season crops like chillies, capsicums, basil and second plantings of corn. Citrus and mangoes also love being planted mid summer, just keep them well watered.
It is also a good idea to start thinking about winter crops, like broccoli, cabbage, kale, pak choi and spinach. If you sow seeds soon for early crops in late autumn, you could have a second harvest of winter crops in winter and early spring.
Remember that crops like carrots and spring onions can be planted year around!
Now that the stone fruit season is coming to an end, it is important to switch from winter pruning to summer pruning. Summer pruning is used to control tree height and encourage more fruit. Pruning about 1/3 to 1/2 of the new growth encourages more smaller lateral branches to form this season, which will turn into fruiting branches next year.
HAVE FEEDBACK?
Get it touch! Please send through feedback you have to northbrightoncg@gmail.com