Green groups deliver pea pressie
Jennifer Chapman | 8th January 2010 | Fraser Coast Chronicle
GREEN-THUMBED angels have been visiting homes around the Fraser Coast dropping off green pressies.
Pigeon pea seeds have been delivered to a number of lucky residents thanks to Transition Town Hervey Bay and the Hervey Bay Seedsavers Seed Bank.
The gift is to encourage people to get stuck into their gardens to help lower the region’s carbon output.
Transition Town Hervey Bay founder Maggie John explained pigeon peas can not only be used to make delicious recipes but are also good for soil.
Pigeon peas grow as a shrub about two metres high, said Ms John.
They are also native to India and are grown there as a commercial crop.
The plant is drought resistant and survives well with little care.
“People shouldn’t be worried that it is not native,” said Ms John. “We did risk management and it is not likely to escape as a weed.
“It improves soil in a number of ways,” she explained. “It puts life back into soil; worms can feed off it and it can hold moisture.”