Joseph Kielnerowski

Business Type

Suburbia

Farming methods

Permaculture

Short Property Description

Urban farms and productive gardens connected by gates. Joes Connected Garden at Elizabeth Grove grow a vast range of fruit, herbs and veg (along with ducks, chickens and bees); Andrews Urban Farm at Elizabeth East grows veg and fruit, but also has honey production, aquaponics and a flock of prizewinning ducks and chickens. We have two small nurseries and a significant national fig collection as well. Around 15 properties are connected across the two locations, of which around 9 will be available for wwoofing.

In our properties we focus on education and host frequent workshops in all aspects of edible gardening and associated horticulture, including propagating, pruning and grafting; resident wwoofers can attend our workshops for free. Wwoofers can gain skills in various aspects of organic gardening, and also in garden-related construction and the use of tools.

We are engaged in community development and we host regular activities for local schools, including for indigenous students and those with special needs. We maintain close relationships with grassroots community groups and wwoofers can expect to visit at least one of these in their time here.

John, one of our garden owners, is into cooking and loves experimenting and learning new recipes, so wwoofers who like food are most welcome. Our giant wood oven at Andrews Urban farm always looks forward to events and workshops with yummy contributions from visitors.😁

Organic/Biological methods we use

beneficial insects for pollination and pest control, crop rotation, multi-species polyculture, companion plantings, netting, ducks, chickens and predators for pest control, biochar and biological activation of soil.

Skills WWOOFers can learn here

Organic practices & techniques, Permaculture design practices & techniques, Regenerative Agriculture practices & techniques, Gardening, Composting, Soil conservation, Propagating, Mulching, Pruning, Wild Food Foraging, Worm farming, Beekeeping, Animal care, Poultry care, Aquaponics, Mechanical, Using & caring for tools, Making tools, Building, Handyman, Fermenting foods, Preserving & processing food

Courses and Events

This list will be updated regularly with dates and more workshops. Most workshops are free (donations welcome!). Some workshops (e.g. advanced grafting) will have a fee and some will include a meal. All include refreshments.

Every February we have an open garden weekend with a full program of workshops, demos and talks. We run ad hoc workshops throughout the year, mainly from May to November.

Last year’s workshops (2023):
2023 – In May and June we held a 6 session course entitled ‘Introduction to horticulture’ which our woofers at the time attended. In June we held two free fig pruning workshops and two extended workshop events which included meals – one on ‘advanced worm farming – the making and activating of biochar’, and the other on ‘kitchen herbalism – herbs, herb extraction and use’. In early July we had two free workshops on grape pruning; in late July we had two workshops on fig pruning.
29 July 2023 – free basic grafting workshop for deciduous fruit trees (run by the Rare Fruit Society of SA) – grafting knives, tapes, rootstocks and scion wood were available for purchase.
Saturday 5 August 2023 – (free) fruit tree pruning workshop plus an extra workshop during the week.
Saturday 12 August 2023 (free) fig pruning of the satellite fig collection (84 new trees)
August 25 and 26 2023 cleanup and pruning of the main fig reference collection (around 350 large pots)
September 2 and 10 (free) spring blossom afternoon tea and tour
On 28 and 30 October 2023, one of our wwoofers, Yuka Yamasaki (check out her Instagram) held three very successful workshops on Japanese cooking over two days. It was amazing! She had excellent support from one of our garden owners (John) and three other wwoofers staying at the time.
On 4 and 10 November 2023 there were hands-on workshops on planting citrus and subtropical fruit trees on alkaline clay soil (and any other soil types requested the participants)
On 12 N0vember we had a party 🙂 for multiple birthdays using the huge pizza oven at Andrew’s Urban Farm.
In late November 2023, our wwoofer Ria from Nova Scotia (Canada) ran the first Bioblitz ever held in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, with an incredible number of endemic species identified (excluding of course all of the hundreds of cultivated plants in our gardens). Of course, we used the pizza oven again.
On 2 December 2023 we hosted a quiz night and dinner for one of our garden sponsors (Peter the worm farmer) and guests (with bread baked and food cooked in the pizza oven). Wwoofers get to participate in all of these activities 😃.
Early December 2023 – worked on the fig collection, including new additions

2024 events and workshops:

January 20-24 – lots of working bees ready for the Open garden – Mulching, pruning, signage and safety.

10-11 February 2024 – Our annual open garden attracted around 700 visitors, including many with children.  There were talks, workshops, displays and a ‘yellow brick road’ for children designed by children from the local primary school.

In March 2024 we had a series of workshops on summer pruning and irrigation installation and maintenance. Due to a sudden onset of autumn and the cooling of the soil, we cancelled the series on planting subtropical fruit trees and the rest of the summer pruning workshops.

We have not had rain for quite a few months, so our next series of workshops are on wicking beds and irrigation.

Irrigation Workshop 1 – Saturday 11th of May – IBC Wicking Bed Workshop at 47 North Hampton Road Elizabeth East (Andrew’s Urban Farm). Refreshments provided.

Irrigation Workshop 2 – Thursday 16th May – IBC Wicking Bed Workshop at MRCH 48 Midway Road, Elizabeth East. Refreshments provided.

Irrigation Workshop 3 -Wednesday 22nd May – Grey Water Dripper at 6 Argent Street, Elizabeth Grove. Refreshments provided.

Irrigation Workshop 4 – Thursday 30th May – Irrigation Workshop at MRCH, 48 Midway Road, Elizabeth East. Refreshments provided.

Irrigation Workshop 5 – TBA between 16-29th June – Electronic Controller/Soil Moisture Monitoring  – Held at Joe’s ?

Irrigation Workshop 6 – Thursday  6th June – Mini make your own Wicking Bed Workshop at MRCH, 48 Midway Road, Elizabeth East 10.30-12.00 Refreshments provided.

We also have to schedule a ‘thank you’ party for the 60 or so volunteers who assisted during our Open Garden.

At the end of June 2024 we are scheduling 2 grape pruning workshops

In July 2024 we are anticipating the following workshops: fig pruning x2, winter pruning of deciduous fruit trees x2, grafting (with the Rare Fruit Society of SA)

In August 2024 we are anticipating an advanced grafting workshop and pruning of the satellite fig collection (84 new trees)

We currently have a lot of infrastructure work delayed due to illness and people being away. Before the onset of wet weather, we still have to out stuff in storage, set up the preserving shed, repair and paint benches, improve the irrigation, repair two houses, extend a nursery, complete a veranda and build an espalier tree tunnel.