Local Rod Noonan is celebrating a recent win at the Sunshine Golden Age Garden Club’s 104th Annual Show with a Blackjack Zucchini.
Mr Noonan entered the 3.6kg vegetable into the edible marrow section and stole the show with his Blackjack variety measuring a whopping 575mm.
Another accolade Mr Noonan will remember is working with the Royal Horticultural Society of Victoria across 20 years coordinating the hanging baskets for the Melbourne International Flower and Garden show.
No stranger to growing the biggest and the best, when Mr Noonan was President of the Williamstown Garden Club he created a tasty tomato along with Harold Milburn which they named the Dune Pink.
Mr Milburn also created the Lancefield market as we know it today.
These days, Mr Noonan’s green thumb is invested in the Kilmore Community Gardens—a bite size responsibility, there are around 20 members.
At a recent working bee, the raised garden beds were shuffled around and now, basking in full sun, growers are harvesting tomatoes, beans, pumpkins, and squash. A shared bay tree and rosemary plant are also popular along with the quadrangle seating arrangement, and a seed share letter box set up.
Mr Noonan said it has been the worst year he has known for watering at the community garden in Union Street, and he hopes to apply for a grant with the Bendigo bank to purchase some topsoil.
Mr Noonan thanked the Kilmore Men’s Shed for building garden beds which community members can hire annually— $15 for a single membership or $20 for a family.
An open day is planned for Saturday, May 10 with plants and bulbs to purchase along with delicious jacket potatoes between 10am to 2pm.
The U3A Ukulele group are performing and Mr Noonan hopes to see everyone come out to enjoy the day, and he warmly invites everyone to attend their monthly meetings which are held at the Kilmore Community Centre on Victoria Parade on the first Wednesday of each month, at 7pm, with refreshments provided of course.
To make enquiries about the community garden, phone Rod on 0422 810 433.
