Growing fruit and vegetables is immensely gratifying, on top of the healthy food it produces and the money it can save compared to supermarket prices. But doing it consistently well is hard: and that’s where Community Gardens are an invaluable resource. Visit Mid Mountains Community Garden with Belle Butler to dig deeper.
Key Points:
Community gardening provides an opportunity to grow food without the pressure of maintaining a veggie patch all on your own.
Community gardening utilises the skills, knowledge and hard work of many, allowing for better growing systems, more success and faster maintenance.
Community gardens build resilience at a local level by strengthening relationships, increasing food security, and providing opportunities to upskill and knowledge swap.
I have a complex relationship with my veggie patches. When we are on good terms, I lavish them with my attention and love, and they flourish and thrive and offer their bountiful fruit in return. We meet each other’s needs and show our gratitude and respect in how we provide for each other.
But then I withdraw. Sometimes for a few days, other times inflicting long bouts of neglect while I busy myself elsewhere. There are many distractions that come between us, and my veggie patches are not particularly accepting of my multiple life-affairs. They demand consistent attention. And if they don’t get it, they show their displeasure. They wilt. They shrivel. They refuse to provide. And then the weeds come in and declare the relationship over.
My show of intermittent love is the result of a particularly busy time of life. At least, that’s the excuse I’m going with, and one that I’ve commonly heard from others attempting similar relationships in their own backyards. The good news is, just because you can’t keep up your end of the deal in a monogamous relationship with your veggie patch at home, it doesn’t have to be the end! Polyamory in the veggie patch world does wonders for all involved.
Volunteers gather at Mid Mountains Community Garden.
In all seriousness, community gardens, like the Mid Mountains Community Garden on Queens Road in Lawson, offer an excellent opportunity to upskill, connect with others and grow food, without the pressure of maintaining a patch all on your own.
Further, community gardening builds resilience at a local level by strengthening relationships, increasing food security, providing an opportunity to share tips and knowledge, problem solve, and work towards building self-sustaining communities.
Janet pulling weeds in one of the veggie patches at Mid Mountains Community Garden
When I visited Mid Mountains Community Garden, a handful of volunteers were busily tending to multiple beds of fine produce. It was clear that while the gardens benefitted from their concerted effort, the people participating also benefitted.
Janet, one of the longest-attending members, shared with me some of things she loves about community gardening: “Learning more about gardening including water saving, seasonal rotation of plants and weeds versus veggies, enjoying the company of like-minded people, passing on knowledge to others, and sharing ideas.”
Kathy Husselbee from Wentworth Falls, who makes the trip down to Lawson to take advantage of the slightly warmer climate below Boddington Hill, added to that list: “Putting your hands in soil, socialising, having the chance to take home produce, and feeling like you’re on the good side. If you feel like you’re meeting people and doing something positive, it’s a good thing.”
Kathy Husselbee comes to the Community Garden from Wentworth Falls
Another volunteer, Margaret Bell, joined the group during Covid, when a neighbour thought she needed cheering up. I asked her if participating in the Community Garden achieved that goal and she didn’t hesitate: “Oh yes, it cheered me up!” She added that as a vegetable lover, she greatly appreciates the opportunity to learn how to grow vegetables, which she wouldn’t otherwise be able to do due to a shady garden at home.
Left: Margaret Bell found that community gardening cheered her up during Covid. She’s been participating ever since. Right: Taking home tasty produce is one of the perks of participating in community gardening.
Knowledge sharing is a particular benefit of attending the gardening days, which take place every Saturday from 9am to 12pm. Volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and boast varying levels of expertise, with founding members like Ray Kennedy, a gardener by trade, and Janet, a local Bushcare volunteer of many years, bringing years of local experience to the group.
As a group, they work together to solve problems and improve systems. “One challenge we face is water and a warming climate,” said Kathy, explaining that one of the ways they are dealing with this problem is by creating wicking beds. With funding they received from participating in the Edible Gardens Trail, they created two wicking beds with different systems: one with irrigation pipe at the base, and one with washed river sand.
Left: Wicking beds are one way Mid Mountains Community Garden is facing the challenge of water management in a changing climate. Right: A beautiful head of broccoli picked from one of the patches.
In another effort to manage water, they installed a drip irrigation system connected to tank water. “When the weather gets hotter, we limit the amount of water via drip irrigation to get the plants used to less water,” said Ray.
Members have also worked hard to create a closed loop system that doesn’t rely on outside inputs. Janet explained that instituting a rotating green manure system on site has been worthwhile: “We are currently leaving one garden bed fallow each three months. Into this bed we plant a ‘green manure’ crop,” she said. “The intention is to rest the soil and to improve the soil health. I think it is working as our most recent crops seem to have grown quicker and to be flowering sooner.”
Ray added: “We use seeds with different functions [for the green manure]. Importantly, you need to dig it in before it flowers. When the plant flowers, all the goodness goes to the flower, so dig it in before then so that the goodness goes back into the soil. Since using this system, we haven’t needed to use any fertilisers, only green manure and we add in some worm juice.”
A lush ‘green manure’ that will soon be dug in to improve soil health.
In a world of ever-increasing personal busyness, as well as known and unknown environmental challenges ahead, community gardening just makes sense.
You can join Mid Mountains Community Garden simply by showing up on Saturday between 9am and 12pm. Get your hands into the soil, have a good chat, and leave with produce and knowledge, like Ray’s final advice to me before I left: “If you find a plant that works in a particular area, then get the seed, because it will continue to grow well there every time. It’s in their DNA to cope with the issues of that area.” A solid tip that can be applied to all veggie patch relationships.
Click to view a short 30-second video shot on a recent sunny Saturday
Take Action:
Get involved at Mid Mountains Community Garden every Saturday between 9am-12pm at Kihilla Retreat & Conference Centre, 5-17 Queens Road Lawson NSW 2783 (Map & Directions)
This story has been produced as part of a Bioregional Collaboration for Planetary Health and is supported by the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF). The DRRF is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
Our newsletter is now out! Read about how you can contribute to @bluemountainscitycouncil`s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy; watch our video on Falling in Love with Glossy Black Cockatoos; see the new photos of the rare Northern Heath Frog; watch how the Bushcare Seed Collectors cook banksias to release their seeds; learn more about Tai Chi and Qigong, the Chinese medicine movement practices; and take part in our next workshop on Designing Your Future Home with Passive House Designer Karina Rafailov from @earthy_haus
Read it here (link in profile): https://bit.ly/40e4GHr
Our video on Falling In Love With Glossy Black Cockatoos is now up on our Planetary Health YouTube channel (sorry, it`s too big to share here but there`s a link in our profile).
Jayden Gunn finishes his presentation by saying:
"Care is like a snowball. The more people you tell the bigger the snowball gets, and the further it goes. And the more we know, the more we care. And the more we know, the more we`re able to help."
The video is of our fabulous Forum on Growing Connected Landscapes for the Glossy Black Cockatoo, and includes presentations by Jayden Gunn, BirdLife Australia, Amanda Foxon-Hill from Mid Lachlan Landcare, and STEM teacher Samantha Bowden from Glenbrook Public School. There`s a link with the video on how to register for the Community Tree Planting Day in Goologong on 5 July (and it`s also in our profile). Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCERdF21Ud0&t=13s
Today we`re enjoying eating ripe medlars! Medlars are attractive cold climate fruit trees that were popular in Medieval gardens. They`re one of the few fruits that can be harvested in late Autumn and eaten in early Winter when they`re fully ripe. This is a great time of year to plant them for a future harvest. Check out our short video on how to eat them! #coldclimategardens #ediblegardens #medlars #growyourown #planetaryhealth #bluemountains...
We`re thrilled to share that last night @BlueMountainsCityCouncil`s Planetary Health Centre won the Innovative Leadership Award (Population Under 150K) in the 2025 NSW Local Government Excellence Awards. What a great end to World Environment Day! 🌏 This award celebrates how local government can lead transformative change for a more sustainable future. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard with us to make our vision a reality. You can read more about what we`re doing at our website (link in profile): http://www.bluemountainsplanetaryhealth.com.au/ @ph_alliance #planetaryhealth #worldenvironmentday #localgovernmentleadership #nswlocalgovernmentexcellenceawards...
Blocking out a couple of hours a week to step off the treadmill and give ourselves time to nurture our relationship with the earth and ourselves, is one way to keep our creative spirit and ‘lust for life’ alive. If you haven’t done so yet, one opportunity over the next week is to spend some ‘slow’ time in the 2024 Wynne Prize exhibition at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre before it closes on 15 June. Read more in Katoomba Area Local News here (link in profile): https://www.katoombalocalnews.com/the-2024-wynne-prize/ @bluemountainsculturalcentre @artgalleryofnsw #wynneprize #landscapes #bluemountains #katoomba #artexhibition #planetaryhealth...
Recognising how violence and war impact the health of the planet, the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative has become a member of the Blue Mountains Peace Collective. On Sunday 25th May, we attended a presentation by Dr Keith Suter on Making Peace in the World Today at the Leura Uniting Church. In this powerful presentation Dr Suter questions why we learn about war rather than successful peace negotiations! View the video of his presentation below and read our full story in Katoomba Area Local News here: https://bit.ly/3Fl4WgQ (link in profile)
With an extra day up your sleeve this long weekend, it`s a great opportunity to give nature a hand to regenerate and provide more habitat for our fellow species! Join our fabulous all ages Planetary Health Bushcare Group from 1.30pm and then participate in the Forum on Growing Connected Landscapes for the Glossy Black Cockatoo at 4pm, followed by drinks and nibblies! You can also start the day with a fabulous Tai Chi session at 8am. Visit our Planetary Health Pluriversity website to book in and learn more (link in profile): https://bmpluriversity.org/program/
Or ring 0407 437 553 for more information. #planetaryhealth #bushcare #katoomba #bluemountains #glossyblackcockatoos #landcare #biodiversity #habitat #wearenature #togetherwecan...
In this inspiring interview with Medlow Bath resident Amanda Foxon-Hill she talks about her work with Mid Lachlan Landcare, why Growing Connected Landscapes for the Glossy Black Cockatoo is so important, and why she loves her work so much! Read the full story in Blackheath Area Local News here: https://blackheathnews.com/connecting-landscapes-for-glossy-black-cockatoos/
Book in for the Growing Connected Landscapes Forum at 4pm this Saturday 7 June here: https://events.humanitix.com/growing-connected-landscapes-for-the-glossy-black-cockatoo Register your interest for the Community Tree Planting Day in Goologong here: https://events.humanitix.com/glossy-black-cockatoo-community-tree-planting-5
In a world that increasingly feels out of balance, we’re thrilled to be offering Saturday morning Tai Chi and Qigong at 8am this Saturday 7 June (and the first Saturday of every month on our Skill Share Saturdays). Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese martial art and moving meditation for body, mind and spirit. It is ideal for learning to keep calm amidst chaos but also has health benefits to increase longevity. Harvard Medical School has reported that this gentle form of exercise can help maintain strength, flexibility, and balance, and could be the perfect activity for the rest of your life. It`s particularly popular in Hong Kong, where residents have one of the highest life expectancies in the world! T`ai-Chi has also been found to improve brain function (like memory and mental flexibility) faster than other exercise and, in a recent study, comparing T`aiChi to brisk walking, the martial art was found to be significantly better at reducing blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease, like blood sugar levels and cholesterol. If you’d like to try it out, you can reserve your spot here (link in profile): https://bit.ly/3FxWPgR
Learn how to Grow Connected Landscapes for the magnificent Glossy Black Cockatoo at 4pm on Saturday 7th June. In our first Planetary Health Forum we’ll be hearing from Amanda Foxon-Hill from Mid Lachlan Landcare, Jayden Gunn from Birdlife Australia and Samantha (Pongi) Bowden from Glenbrook Public School, to learn more about the Glossy and how we can all help improve its habit from the Lower Mountains to Central NSW. We’re also launching a Community Tree Planting Day on 5 July in Goologong (near Cowra) to which we’re hoping we’ll get a large group of volunteers to help make a difference for this beautiful bird (and lots of other species as well!)
Habitat connectivity is essential if species are to adapt and overcome the challenges posed by our changing climate.
Join us as we imagine life as a Glossy Black Cockatoo. We`ll make our way through the temperate eucalypt forests of Dharug & Gundungurra land here in the Blue Mountains before leaving the Great Dividing Range for the Wheat & Sheep belt of the Central Tablelands. Our journey ends on Wiradjuri Land, North West of Cowra in the dry scleropyhyll forests of the Conimbla & Nangar National Parks, the start of the Western Woodland Way
Jayden Gunn is an adept wildlife photographer, ecologist, and environmental educator, with a deep passion for Australian birdlife. Through his lens, he captures Australia`s unique wildlife, using digital storytelling to connect people with nature in meaningful ways.
Links in profile to book in.
Book for the Forum here: https://bit.ly/43FzamP
Register your interest for the Community Tree Planting Day here: https://bit.ly/3HwYHa5
Watch an interview with Amanda here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77y2jrCzINo&t=52s
Read more about Glenbrook Public Schools work for the Glossy Black here: https://lowermtnslocalnews.com/glossy-black-cockatoos/
Our newsletter is now out! View our video of Dr Keith Suter on "Making Peace in the World Today” and read about Growing Connected Landscapes for the Glossy Black Cockatoo and the 2024 Wynne Prize exhibition at the Cultural Centre. You can also book in for our Mushroom Cultivation and Tai Chi workshops, and our Planetary Health Bushcare on Skill Share Saturday, 7 June. And PS. We’re a finalist in the NSW Local Government Excellence Awards. Read the newsletter here (link in profile): https://bit.ly/4dEFL5u
Yesterday a delegation from the University of Sydney and the Razak School of Government in Malaysia visited the Planetary Health Centre to exchange experiences on the challenges all our local governments are facing, including adapting to climate change, managing ageing populations, and finding economic opportunities for small councils to support their community`s needs. @rsog_insta #localgovernment #planetaryhealth #disasterriskreduction #systemicchange #councils #malaysia #exchange...
Belle Butler is a writer, musician and occasional photographer. She likes mix-and-matching these artforms and often explores the same themes through each of them. Her short fiction has been published in numerous Australian literary journals and she recently received a WestWords Fellowship and Mentorship with Delia Falconer for her novel manuscript, ‘River.’ Hopefully it will be published one day.
Our native wildlife is in crisis. With dwindling tree hollows, which are essential homes for countless species, the Blue Mountains' unique ecosystem is under threat. Discover how you can make a real difference. Learn about practical solutions, community initiatives, and the upcoming event dedicated to restoring vital habitats.
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