The " Community Garden " Concept !

In the not so distant past the average Australian family lived in a free standing home on a quarter acre block of land in the suburbs.  The reality of today is more likely to be an apartment high in the sky in one of the towering apartment blocks that are replacing urban sprawl.

Some apartment dwellers welcome the end of chores such as mowing lawns and tending gardens, but deep in the genetics of Homo sapiens lurks an attachment to the land from the era when we farmed for our living.  The urge to get our hands dirty and grow things is fast becoming a missing component of modern lives.

The city of Launceston in the state of Tasmania has instigated a " Community garden " concept that fills that gap.  A stretch of land in the suburb of Punchbowl used by the council for storing road machinery became vacant and the city planners created raised garden beds which could be worked at table height for comfort.  Each of these measured about a metre by two metres and they were offered to city residents for a fee of just ten dollars each per year. Some people took more than one adjoining plots.

This community garden was safely fenced and those taking up garden plots were issued with a gate key, to enable 24/7 access.  The concept quickly took on a life of its own and plots were quickly sought. A small glasshouse was added to enable seedling growth and this was sponsored by Rotary and other commercial interests became involved.  Visiting experts gave advice and there is now a monthly newsletter emailed to plot holders advising planting times for the various vegetables for each season.

These are plots that are vigorously sought after by residents and it is astonishing just what a variety and abundance of fresh vegetables can be produced from such a well planned space.  The cost of vegetables in the shops has been steadily increasing and many canny plot holders find they can grow most of their needs if they avoid things like potatoes which need a lot of space to expand beneath the soil.

There is a high degree of camaraderie and a mix of old and young tending these plots. Some migrants who remember the war years in Britain see the concept as reminding them of the " Victory gardens " of those troubled times.  Apart from the money saving, there is something so satisfying in the freshness of produce that you have grown in your own garden, and with careful selection many plants can be re-harvested as they continue to regenerate.

It is an innovative use of otherwise unproductive council land and the idea could spread to other councils as a community service.  It would be particularly applicable in Sydney where the city comprises many small council areas highly served by high rise.   These often have land reserved for future council use that could be converted to a community garden and bridge the isolation from the land that is an integral part of apartment living.

The community garden idea seems the ideal solution to that lack of communion with the lands that affects so many apartment dwellers.  It may be small and distant but it fills a need that is otherwise impossible to sustain.