The Metung Community Garden
is 25 years old.
It was initiated by Michael Harris and Tim Howard from St John’s Parish.
Michael and Tim organised for part of the church grounds to be set aside for a community garden where residents could grow vegetables or simply take time to relax among fragrant plants on a beautiful garden bench. Today all 10 of the plots are in use by community garden members – one of the plots is shared.
Of course, the success of any community enterprise requires someone to keep an eye on it and that special someone is Sarah Connolly.
When the Advertiser visited it was late winter, and it’s been a tough one – the growing spirit is not yet showing much sign of life. Large swathes of Victoria and wider Australia have been challenged by severe weather events, so it’s likely that we are all hoping for a beautiful spring to break from the tough winter.
Encouraging communities and kids to take an interest in gardening and particularly in growing vegetables to eat is a great life skill that can be carried through a lifetime.
At Sarah’s house they have a
beautiful pizza oven and her son Finn has learnt how to make focaccia. Even better he has been inspired to do this as an endpoint for the
herbs that he has taken a special interest in growing.
The results are delicious.
The gardens are not just a meeting point. Working in the gardens gives families and kids a shared activity with lots to learn about growing things as well as heaps of joy and excitement – from soil preparation in spring to tending the small plants as they grow into a harvest that is frequently shared among friends and other gardeners.
From time to time in summer growing “swaps” are held where people swap what they’ve got in abundance with vegetables that others have more than they can use. In this way the richness is shared.
For those with a love of gardening or lucky enough to have a patch of dirt large enough, sinking their hands into gardening could be the beginning of a satisfying journey. If that’s the case, then you might also be in for a great sense of pride as you add fresh home-grown produce to your meals between now and Christmas and beyond.
Establishing a shared or community garden spreads the workload and of course adds to the pool of gardening know-how. It can also encourage social interaction.
Spring is generally expected to start on September 1 each year. Because it seems to be late this year, we have a few more weeks to prepare our gardens for spring planting.
