On June 21st, residents and staff at Redmond Park in Heidelberg held a Winter Solstice afternoon tea and product launch to promote their Herbal Apothecary group.
At the end of every season, residents harvest, pick, dry, and store as much of the community garden's materials as possible to create the wonderful products you see below. They then work together to mix, package, and label the products for the upcoming launch within the community. The product packaging is specifically chosen as biodegradable, so it can go into the community recycling stations or back into the garden through the compost once used. Any additional materials required, like beeswax and Victorian olive oil, are locally sourced to further promote the sustainable initiative.
To advertise this season's event, posters and artwork were created by a local watercolour artist, painting the logo from the garden plants specifically for the brand. Any ‘suggested donations’ went back into replanting, caring for the garden, and buying the materials needed to produce the next batch of sustainable products for the Herbal Apothecary to be sold on the next solstice.
This season's products included a showcase of new herbal teas, herbal salts, chilli sauce, lavender bags, and calendula balm. What a great showcase of community initiative and sustainability.
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