By Danielle Kutchel
Green thumbs from Bunyip are doing their bit to help residents rebuilding after the Bunyip State Park fires, by collecting and donating potted plants ready for new gardens.
Davina Veenstra of Bunyip and District Community House put out a call on Facebook in April, asking for keen gardeners to help with the project.
The group collected pots, potting mix and cuttings of various plants and set up a miniature nursery on the Community House’s verandah. Among the army of shrubs, bushes, shoots and vegies are lavender, succulents, indoor plants and even rhubarb.
Ms Veenstra also contacted the Bunyip Kindergarten, Bunyip Primary School, Garfield Primary School and the Garfield Community Garden to ask for their help.
The schools and kindergarten were given daffodil bulbs with instructions to pot and grow them until they reached flowering, when they would be taken out to the Tonimbuk Recovery Centre for residents to plant in their gardens.
Monday 22 July was the first delivery of plants to Tonimbuk, which Ms Veenstra says was well received.
“The idea of it was to bring a bit of colour in their life,” she explains.
“For instance, a daffodil in a pot – how sunny and happy that is!”
The project also helped young kids process the disaster.
“It was their way of helping, and a therapy of sorts as well because a lot of those children have suffered and seen stress and worry in the past few months in their community,” Ms Veenstra says.
To help them connect with the community, she asked the children to write their name on an ice-cream stick to go with their potted plant.
The Bunyip Green Thumbs will eventually morph into the Lions Bushfire Garden Recovery Group, assisting in the quest to recover the gardens of the fire-affected region.
For now, the Bunyip and District Community House still needs donations of potting mix as it aims to get more plants out to Tonimbuk before spring.
Joanne Levine, a volunteer with the Green Thumbs, says she has donated cuttings from her own garden.
“It’s an economical and more personal way of making a contribution to the cause. I wish the situation wasn’t there but it is, so we’re helping people recover.”
Meanwhile at Tonimbuk, Chris and Denise Mollison looked over the plant donations and picked out some new additions to their garden, which was devastated in the March fires.
“There are some lovely people out there – they’re so helpful,” Mr Mollison said.
