What is Grow It Local?
Grow It Local is a new community initiative to encourage more people to grow, share and eat locally grown foods. The City of Rockingham is one of the first local governments to proudly support the initiative and we are encouraging local growers to "put their patch on the map" on the Grow It Local website.
Register your patch, outline what’s growing and highlight whether you’re interested in connecting with other local growers to share or sell your produce, knowledge, space or skills. Likewise, aspiring growers can log on, see what’s growing locally, connect with experts and get inspired.
- When – Year-round with a focus on seasonal activities i.e. Autumn and Spring Festival
- Where – In and around Rockingham in backyards and courtyards, local community gardens, Council venues etc.
- How much – Free to sign-up. Members may charge for their services, skill-sharing or homegrown produce and goods.
- Grow It Local website
- Social channels – Facebook or Instagram
Want to learn more about Grow It Local in Rockingham? Call us on 9528 0333 or email customer@rockingham.wa.gov.au for more information. If you would like to know more about upcoming workshops please see below or check out the City's What's On page.
Grow It Local Awards
Grow It Local Awards Entries are opening Wednesday 1 February 2023.
The #growitlocalawards are a community-minded celebration of creativity in homegrown culture.
Supported by the City of Rockingham, award categories include biggest vegetable, wonkiest vegetable, best chicken name, school garden, sustainable gardener, why I love my patch award and many others. To enter simply post your entry to social media with the hashtag #growitlocalawards tag @growitlocal and mention the City of Rockingham. For more information on the award categories, please visit About Us - Grow it Local
Grow It Local Awards entries close Thursday 30 March 2023, with winners announced Friday 14 April 2023.
Grow It Local - Digital Workshops
The Hungry Gardener: Preserving the Hungry Gardener way - Saturday 18 February 2023, 12pm (AWST)
- After all the blood, sweat and tears we pour into our gardens, it’s when harvest time rolls around that we really get to enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of our labour.
- Fabian Capomolla, AKA @the_hungry_gardener is as equally at home in the kitchen as he is in the garden. Not one to be intimidated by a little garden overabundance, Fabian knows how to make the most of the glut when it’s happening by making delicious homemade preserves.
- Join Fabian as he teaches you how to make the most of the abundance by preserving the Hungry Gardener way. Based in NSW’s Northern Rivers, Fab’s a Defender-driving, long-boarding, content-making garden guru.
- Register now for this free digital session here.
Super Bloom: Maximum plants - Saturday 11 March 2023, 12pm (AWST)
- Join Jac Semmler as she teaches you how to get more plants in your life. This workshop will help you to get more beauty in your garden, and with the hectic nature of modern life, we could all do with a little more beauty. Jac believes that there is no right way to garden and that all gardens should be a personal pursuit of pleasure.
- Register now for this free digital session here.
Take Your Garden To The Next Level! - Saturday 15 April 2023, 12pm (AWST)
- Join Adam Hancock as he shows you the tips and tricks that anyone can use to get their patch going from ho-hum to holy moley.
- Adam is a professional gardener and passionate home grower and will share with you how he gets his plants jumping out of the ground. From how to look after your soil and choosing the best plants, to making sure that your patch keeps pumping year-round.
- Register now for this free digital session here.
Time To Get Your Subtropical Garden Singing! - Saturday 13 May 2023, 12pm (AWST)
- As the southern states begin their descent into winter, gardeners in the Sunshine state and anywhere with a subtropical climate are gearing up for their most productive time of the year.
- This workshop will be presented by the wonderful Claire Bickle. She’s a subtropical gardener through and through and knows first-hand the challenges as well as the benefits of growing food closer to the equator.
- Book your free ticket to this must-watch workshop here.
Regenerative Gardening, making the world a better place one patch at a time - Saturday 10 June 2023, 12pm (AWST)
- No matter how big your patch is, whether it’s a few pots on a balcony or a full-blown market gardener, as food growers we are powerful agents of change.
- With a regenerative mindset, and working with nature rather than against it, it’s amazing what a difference a determined gardener can make to a landscape.
- Join everyone’s favourite desert gardener, Heath Joske as he shares with you his permaculture approach to managing his patch. How he manages water, how he uses plants and how with the power of compost and seaweed, he is breathing life back into a run-down old sheep paddock.
- Register now for this free digital session here.