Marking National Reconcilation Week 2023

A range of bush foods to taste

Explaining the bush food area

Our site has a long history, and was a significant place for Peek Whurrong people. The racecourse was a wetland and would have been teaming with life.

For many years we've been exploring bush food plants that will grow and produce in our climate through our feature garden below the HUB, with varying success in our experimentation. More recently this has expanded to trials of bigger plantings of things like murnong (Microseris scapigera and M. walteri), chocolate lilies and pale vanilla lilies (Arthropodium spp), and bulbine lilies (Bulbine spp) which were all once staples of First Nations agriculture in local areas.

We invited our community to mark National Reconciliation Week by hearing about why we have an Indigenous recognition area and by having a taste of the bush tucker that's in season. Attendees got to sample the popular warrigal greens pesto, some native mint teas, a refreshing banksia drink and some of the salt bush we have growing on site.

The theme for National Reconciliation Week this year is Be a Voice for Generations. We encourage members to reflect on how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia, and how you can use your power, words and actions to create a better, more just Australia for all of us.