20/10/2023
Meadow Creek will be at the Moyhu Garden Expo this Saturday!
History of the Moyhu Lions Garden Expo:
The Lions Club of Moyhu, in 1993 held The First Moyhu Bush Market which was first held at the Moyhu Caravan Park.
By 1999 this market was rebranded to the Moyhu Lions Garden Expo and relocated to the current site it is held today- The Moyhu Lions Park.
During the 1990’s the Lions Club, through entering the Moyhu Township in the Keep Australia Beautiful competition, started to look at Recycling, Reducing and Reusing. At the time no one in the King Valley had recycling facilities let alone wheelie bins. The Moyhu Lions Club approached the Rural City Council of Wangaratta to see what opportunities were available for our community. The council applied for a grant with Eco recycle and were successful in getting $10,000 to set up a recycling depot in Moyhu for all the community to access.
Then came the challenge of how to get the word out and to educate the King Valley Community.
The Garden Expo was a result of this brainstorming and in 1999 the Lions held a Garden Expo with lots of plant stalls, Demonstrations on Pruning, Orchid Management etc and there were many Displays on what could be recycled at the new Moyhu Recycling Depo. The Mayor opened the Recycling Depot and the day was such a resounding success that the club decided to make it an annual event. Over the years each Expo would have a theme to recycle, reduce or reuse and one year even had a display of everyday items that were remade from recycles materials. If it was a dry year or drought the focus would be in water saving.
The Community then began the Moyhu Farmers Market (now known as The Moyhu Lions Country Market), held each month and was supported/ auspiced by the Moyhu Lions Club and ran by committee made up of a mix of community members and Lions Members.
The Market since become known as the Moyhu Lions Club Country Market. The Garden expo has continued each year held with the market traditionally on the 3rd Saturday of October.
The Garden expo still features many stalls with a key theme of sustainability in the home, garden and farm as our local community is made up of Rural Townships (Moyhu, Whitfield and Cheshunt), as well as lifestyle and Agricultural properties within our broader community.
Over the year The Expo has featured an eray of stalls, from garden straw, seedlings, plants, reusable items (i.e. Tupperware),Point of lay Chickens, renewable craft, boomerang bags and home grown produce – (also offering locals an opportunity to sell locally and sustainably grown produce.)
The Expo has also featured displays and demonstrations including plant demonstrations – (including one year’s Bonsai demonstration), recycling displays etc.
The expo also features a wheelbarrow raffle and competitions which often feature items made of reusable materials like scarecrows. In Previous years had seen us introduce children’s potting with one of our primary schools extending this stall with children painting terracotta pots then planting a vegetable or flower to take home and nurture.
The Garden expo has been very popular with stalls booking out quickly each year!
