The community garden experience < our experience

GARDENING YOUR COMMUNITY - INNOVATIVE WAYS TO BRING LIFE INTO YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD

by Jacqui Hunter

ACF&CFN conference presentation March 2006...

This presentation at the National Community Gardening Conference looked at a broader picture of community gardens, because, I have to admit, I have never been a member of a community garden and am not sure I ever will. I am fortunate to have a home garden to look after and that takes up my allocation of gardening time. So even though I think Community Gardens are wonderful, they aren’t for me personally. However I am interested in exploring a holistic view of my community as one big community garden.

Strawberry Guava in my front yard. Next fruiting season I will put a little note on the adjacent electricity pole to invite people to try these delicious fruit.

We began by combining a vision of the community in which we’d like to live, (eg. Where we felt safe, knew our neighbours, were confident that people would support us if the need arose, there were good businesses around us that were thriving and we felt connected to our place), with a vision for access to locally grown fresh food – low food miles, more nutritious and flavoursome. Then, taking the advice of Roger La Salle (a leading thinker in innovation, technology and commercialization), I put forward an “I wish” statement, about how I’d like my local community to be. “I wish I could eat fresh organic food from my local neighbourhood”.

Gateway into my neighbour’s garden – we have set up a new garden in a once barren area.

Taking into consideration the limited amount of time I feel I can contribute to this vision, I focused on the activities that could be done as part of my other activities, for example, when I commute on my bicycle, visit friends, or as part of my work.

Here are some of the innovative ideas that emerged:

• Plant fruit and nut trees in your front yard, so passers by can harvest fruit.
• Glean fruit
  • from your neighbourhood as part of walking exercise
  • from Wild food – hunting (fishing, trapping) and gathering (bush tucker, edible weeds)
• Contact your local councilor to request support to plant fruit trees in local parks (check soil is safe and not contaminated)
• Form a small garden network with neighbours to share produce
  • Each person plants a different variety
  • Create shared backyards – install gates or pull down the fences
  • Have a local market stall in your street
• Explore the home harvest scheme – maybe with local community centre. Sharing excess fruit with others
• Identify local unloved but productive trees (maybe in back yards or parks). Make a map of these fruit trees and plan a diary date in advance to harvest.
  • Eg. olive trees - plan an olive picking and pickling day, share recipes and have fun. You might even find a local oil press too.
  • Offer to help harvest over laden trees in return for some fruit.
• Hire out the local community centre kitchen with some friends and do a big cook-up of soups and casseroles to put away in the freezer for those cold winter nights. Everyone can take home different varieties.
• Plan little community arts projects with local folk, apply for a grant from local councils or service clubs. This is a great way to meet people, share stories, create your own stories, and leave something behind for others to enjoy.

Mosaic Bird bath in our local park, with stories from the old folk who live nearby illustrated in mosaic tiles around the base.

Limitless opportunities abound to make your community rich and vibrant, a place where you can walk down the street, harvest fruit and nuts along the way, take part in making some community art and find out more about the people who share your street.

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PAGE UPDATED... Saturday, 13 May 2006