The community garden experience < our gardens

GARDENING THE BORDERLANDS-
working with community, council and TAFE

Rebecca Chettleburgh, community garden coordinator for the Albury-Wodonga region, describes her experience in fostering food gardening on the borderlands...

Rebecca Chettleburgh

OUR FIRST GROUP started back in February 2004. We discovered the community wanted a community garden but not a ‘community garden’.

We put our thinking caps on. Some residents expressed their passion for learning but wanted to do it ‘hands-on’ in their own backyard. With the support of the National Environment Centre (NEC; Riverina Institute of TAFE), Parklands Albury/Wodonga and Albury City Council, the first Community Backyard Vege Garden group was underway. It started slowly but the momentum picked up and we now have seven groups running. Groups meet once a week and I am running five of them, all structured a little differently to each other and meeting in people’s back yards or at a community-based setting.

Courses and poo collecting

The courses are run through NEC as a TAFE course. Participants enrol in their backyards and a statement of attainment is obtained after each semester. The course is totally hands-on - we focus on organic and Permaculture principles, no-dig gardens, worm farms, composting and recycling.

We go on ‘poo’ collecting missions as well as excursions to places such as the Harmony Herb Farm at Sandy Creek.

Communal compost, field trips

An example of a group is the self-named ‘Happy Gardeners’, a group of older koori women supported by Woomera Aboriginal Corporation workers and Aboriginal health workers in cooperation with Albury Community Health. Participants are linking with past training employers for support and to identify local resources to add to the compost and gardens. This year, they are planning to go on field trips to nurseries and places of interest and having guest speakers. However, they are also great at sharing their own stories too.

Council support critical

A critical aspect in the success of this scheme has been the involvement and support of Albury City Council.

Bronwyn Bidstrup, from council’s community development section, has been instrumental in building community links and networks and encouraging project development.

Other organisations involved in the planning and development of the project include Health Services in Albury and the Upper Hume region, Department of Ageing, Disabilty and Home Care, Department of Housing, community centres, the Early Childhood Network, Sustainability in Schools Project and Woomera Aboriginal Corporation.

Interest has been sparked in a broad range of organisations throughout the region in looking at how they can incorporate community gardening into their communities. Models are being explored and we are searching for funding to enable these more diverse projects to get off the ground.

In my back yard

A really exciting partnership that is growing is with the IMBY house project and festival, held in March. This festival is run on a yearly basis and is growing stronger and stronger.

The IMBY house project is a sideline of the festival and is going to be a Permaculutre learning centre where Mr and Mrs IMBY will live ‘the permy lifestyle’ and also where different groups and interested people can come and meet for workshops etc. It is envisaged that school groups , cooking classes, a nursery and more will stem from this project as well as members of our community groups becoming involved with the birth of this project and the use of the facility.

Happy community gardening to you all.

Information: Rebecca Chettleburgh P: 0410 594282

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PAGE UPDATED... Monday, 15 January 2007