Committee Members

Kerry is an amateur gardener, who still plants in rows, and tries to maximise the useable crop from his plot, with more success some years than others. He manages the NOG membership, wrangles the NOG Committee, and does various other tasks around the garden. As Chair of the Committee he also has the unenviable task of occasionally hassling members about compliance with NOG procedures.

As far as gardening skills and knowledge goes (flowers and vegetables) my wife Jenni is the winner by miles. And I help out and enjoy the NOG Community especially the working bees and pizza meals. But I probably get most enjoyment from undertaking some of the garden ‘improvements’ like the bluestone walls to contain our weed pile in the chicken run or creating the lawn in front of the kitchen.

We do have a Treasurer, but he is very shy! And he is a keen gardener.

I joined NOG in 2019 and being an apartment dweller, am hugely grateful to have a small patch of land to grow veges, herbs and flowers on. I have really valued the social aspect of the garden and have enjoyed swapping recipes, gardening tips and seeds, plants and produce with other NOG members. I have been part of the seedling group and have recently used my fundraising experience to get support for some much needed improvements to the kitchen. 

You may have seen Holly in the hothouse, maybe with the Seedling Group – way back before Covid – providing young plants for Noggers and the public.  She has the first plot on the right through the back door of the hothouse. For four years now she has lovingly grown her herbs and vegetables at NOG and rejoiced in meeting like-minded people, a change from working alone in her glass studio at Narrow Neck. You might be tempted to answer her email requests for NOG recipes for overly abundant produce!

I’ve been a plot-holder at NOG for a couple of years now and really enjoy getting muddy, growing all sorts of things, and the friendship. I have had many failures – gourds stuck in trees being the latest – and would class myself as a hungry beginner rather than any sort of expert, but really enjoy being part of NOGS. I was looking for different ways to contribute to the garden as a whole, so am very happy to be now involved with the Committee. You can find me at the top corner of the garden. Sometimes asleep under a shrub.

Allen loves his gardening and is grateful that he has the opportunity of growing vegetables and the occasional flowers in his plot at the NOG. He loves growing sweet corn, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli and potatoes and he has had limited success in Summer 2023 because of the weather. Allen is always willing to give a helping hand in working bees and committee work and he manages to keep the NOG lawn in good order. His plot is one of the five new plots to the right of the hot house near the Elderberry grove.

I am one of the gardening quartet of John, Lyndsay, and Helen who look after two plots. We have one near the loos with a pet thrush, Frances, and one shadier plot near the bananas. We garden and experiment as a noisy, friendly consensus. We love learning from more experienced NOGGERS. Our triumphs have been our 2023 bean crop and aubergines and our allotment compost bins full of glossy worms. Beetroot is our flop crop. NOGs is about food production and companionship. It is also a serene and joyful sanctuary full of bird song.  The committee is a fun group of committed enthusiasts and it is never a chore to attend meetings or help out with tasks.

It has been a joy to join NOGS after many years of peering through the fence. I am soaking up the know-how of the seasoned gardeners around me. I am in the Seedling Group and on the Committee. Learning heaps and just love being in the garden.