Places of possibilities

Growing up, my backyard was a place of magic. Everyone in my family had fruit trees and seasonal vegies in their gardens but I didn’t always appreciate the green spaces beyond my house as a source of nutrition or food security.

Instead, my backyard was a place of enquiry and curiosity, for learning and connecting with my natural world. In my grandparents’ garden, lemons weren’t just for lemonade, they were for experiments, play and potions. This is where my understanding of gardens as places of possibilities began.

It wasn’t until I was older that I became interested in growing food at home.

My dad is an avid gardener and I’m lucky to have grown up with a beautiful, productive space outside my bedroom window. But space was limited and I needed to find more room to grow. Maybe this is what inspired me to start a community garden.

Growing together

A few years ago, when I was living in a coastal suburb in Tartanya (Adelaide) I started the North Brighton Community Garden with a group of (mostly young) locals. We not only wanted to grow great produce but to nurture awareness of how our everyday actions and choices can benefit the world around us. We began by familiarising ourselves with vacant land in our area, noticing which sites had access to water, power and sunlight, and if the site was near amenities and established community hubs such as libraries, schools and sporting clubs. With a few ideas in mind, we reached out to our local council who helped us find the perfect patch while undergoing a few rounds of community consultation.

It wasn’t always smooth sailing; when open space is limited in our suburbs it’s only natural there’s some contestation over how space is utilised. This process of listening to the whole community inspired us to create a garden that caters to people’s differences while uniting us in the joys of gardening.

Finding common ground

We broke ground at our community garden during the winter months of 2019 and established our fruit orchard and native garden. We now offer individual plots to rent, communal fruit orchards and herbs, and a sensory garden where people can sit, reflect and watch things grow. While there’s no set way to create a community garden, I suggest tapping your closest neighbouring community
garden on the shoulder and asking some questions about their journey. You can find nearby gardens via the Community Gardens Australia website. This national network connects community gardens across the country and provides support.

Reach out to your state representatives who will answer questions and organise gatherings to learn and share stories. I’ve been a state rep for the past few years now and it’s been a joy connecting with edible gardeners who share a love of community and growing good food – there’s more of us than you might think!

Saving seeds and our sanity

Time and again, walking through the front gate of our community garden brings a deep sense of relief and calm. Community gardens exist as reflexive spaces, answering many of the challenges we face in the world today. It’s probably safe to say most people, young and old, feel a sense of overwhelm living through an ecological crises and a pandemic.

The garden gives me hope. By choosing to connect with the seeds that I use in my garden, I’ve found surety that we’re building resilience and future possibilities in turbulent times. We’ve been hurt by the massive corporate seed grabs that have caused dramatic losses to the seed diversity that makes our food systems resilient.

It’s estimated that, through corporatisation and significant underappreciation of the humble seed, we will only continue to see diversity plummet. This is why we save seeds at our community garden, adapting them to our local climate, and why we grow heirloom varieties that are rich in history and genetic diversity.

Healthy food systems

I’ve also been involved in the South Australian Urban Food Network, which started in 2016 and connects food lovers across our state, creating strong networks to build a more resilient and thriving local food system. Our website offers resources and case studies that celebrate our local food heroes. Chances are your state has a similar network, or you might like to explore Sustain: Australia’s National Food Network.

Your backyard, a collection of pot plants, verge gardens, community gardens or edible weeds foraged from the cracks in the footpath remind us of the inextricable role plants play in our lives and invite the knowledge of gardening and food production back into our collective consciousness.

I invite you to think about how you interact with your food system; why not try
something new? As a Diggers member, you’ve already taken a marvellous first step. Plant some seeds – you never know what might pop up.

Written by Alex Miller - passionate community gardener, seed saver and permaculture enthusiast.

You can reach Alex through Diggers or via Instagram @gathered.gardens

Find more about North Brighton Community Garden at northbrightoncg.com and adelaideediblegardentrail.com

Check out the South Australian Urban Food Network at saurbanfood.org