The community garden experience < our gardens

PERSISTENCE AND HEALTHY FOOD -
the story of St Clair Community Farm

Sue Hendry's venture into community gardening started when she noticed that something was wrong with her child's diet. That led to a food coop, then to replacing her lawn with vegetables and, finally, to starting a community garden. Sue Hendry's story first appeared in the Summer 1992 edition of Permaculture Web journal.

Wow!

If only I knew what my ideas were going to do to me and my family, I still would do it all again!

I started out with a young girl's dream... getting a job as a nurse... getting married to a guy I knew since childhood. I wanted six children to have a happy life.

But as the years went by I could see our world slowly deteoriating. I felt I should be doing something but life was too busy. So I put it out of my mind... someone else could take care of it.

Things were not normal

My first child... what a shock! Sitting at three months, walking at six. It was go go go all the time... and I knew that things were not normal.

Then I found out, by myself, that my child was hyperactive. This started me doing something. I built my first veggie patch.

At feeding times, the poor child was fed out of tins of baby food as this was convenient and time saving. Little did I know that the additives etc in the tinned food were reacting with his system. I bought veggies from the fruit store but it still had the same effect.

By this time, my first organic veggies were ready. From that day I have had only minor outbursts such as McDonald's birthday parties, however my son refuses to go anymore.

Finding the community

After my fourth child I stopped work and decided to find out more about my community.

I got involved in groups, dragging my kids everywhere with me. I became involved in a playgroup and found some mothers complaining of their kid's wild behaviour. As I watched them, they were drinking Coke out of a babies bottle, eating chips and cakes running with cream. I tried to explain to them but soon became alienated from other mums and labelled 'weird'.

So I left, got involved with more groups and eventually with the food coop. Even though I grew my own veggies I wanted to belong for social reasons... to make friends... but I couldn't quite, could I?

I said: 'why put up with chemical produce... why couldn't we get organic produce?"

So they gave in and we went in pairs to survey our own fruit markets.

Well, what a shattering disappointment! We all got laughed at and the managers said organics would not make a profit.

Oops - there goes the lawn!

I was so mad when I got home I ripped up the front lawn and did another veggie patch. My husband nearly died when he arrived home. There were a few choice words, but I won!

Next day, my body was so sore. All I could do was sit, so I went to get some reading material.

In Your Garden magazine was a story about getting your local council to support the growing of organic veggies on council land.

That's how I got to know Bruce McPherson and I've been a thorn in his side ever since.

From inspiration to action

We started by advertising our first meeting. Six people turned up.

We had not chosen land yet. There was some vacant land at Regentville in South Penrith, but as we were living in St Clair it was silly travelling all the way down there.

We decided on a piece of land in Cook Parade.

Gathering resources

The next step was to learn all about incorporation and submissions as I was applying for a WAAS grant. We had 30 people interested but it soon dwindled to five as there was to be so much paperwork. They wanted to get stuck into gardening , but paperwork had to be done and it is still being done.

Today, we have 11 members, all eager to do things including the dreaded paperwork. My hardest job is delegating, but I'm learning.

Making progress

Last April I was asked to give a talk to the Australian Arts Council. It went very well and we applied for a grant with lots of help from a lovely person called Maria. We are hoping our submission will be accepted.

As the time drags, the group needs a morale boost every now and then, so we purchased some seeds from an organic place in Tasmania and had a BBQ planting night. Most of our plants are alive and well.

We received the WAAS grant so we employed a permaculture designer to help with the planning of things. We hope to get the fences up soon.

The development application has gone in - that cost $200. Council are going to lay water pipes and connect a tap - $400. The surveyor was $170 and other little bits and pieces kept floating out of our grant.

My vision

My vision for the St Clair Organic Farm is for it to end up as a teaching centre to teach our young folk that there is a way to better our environment.

We hope to have an area for the disabled and elderly , Girl Guides and other groups.

We will have community market days where we can get locals to produce and sell their wares and our organic surplus and hopefully encourage more people to get out there and make their mark. It's no good just thinking about it anymore.

Working on a dream

If we have a dream we have to try and make it work.

I think I am at home base. When council come up with something else I call this another brick wall which I slowly chip at but, at the end, when eventually I get through, there's a feeling of achievement... a sense of learning and a feeling of climbing onto another step of this long , unknown staircase.

The question is - why are we putting up with chemical food?

Maybe some people are too busy. Maybe they think the next person may do a better job. And so it goes down the line, and nothing ever gets done.

Apart from a vegetable garden at Fairfield worked by Asian immigrants, the St Clair Organic Farm was the first community garden in Western Sydney. The garden is no longer in existence.

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PAGE UPDATED... Thursday, 29 September 2005