Why Getting Involved with Community Gardens in Sydney Can be Beneficial for You

By Greencliff Realty | October 15th, 2016

People today are always looking for ways to live more sustainably and to get involved in permaculture and ecological sustainability. With the modern era of technology and social media taking a significant portion of everyone’s day to day life, it’s no wonder people are looking for ways to get back to nature. Regardless of where you live and how much time you have on your hands, one way that you can do your part is to get involved with a community garden.

Community gardens are a great way to be more aware of green living, and provide an opportunity to get involved with the local community through gardening. You can either set up your own community garden, or find an established garden to volunteer with. Even with limited resources and a small space, you can still keep yourself busy with some simple gardening.

Community gardening benefits

Community gardening provides a wide range of positive benefits for all involved. Some such benefits include:

• The chance to grow and harvest your own produce, providing a great learning experience for children as well.
• Increasing the amount of greenery in and around the city with vegetables, plants and flowers.
• Community gardens help to reduce household waste due to the use of waste in composting needs.
• Offer an opportunity for to get your hands dirty in the soil within a community plot of land.
• A learning experience. You can learn so much by joining in with a community garden such as practical gardening tips and organic gardening skills.
• Saving and protecting a wide range of seeds and plants.
• Bringing communities together. Community gardens provide a welcoming place for people of all walks of life to get together and join in a shared activity.

These are just a few selected benefits of community gardens. And the more that are created, planted and looked after by community gardeners, the more it can benefit the community. There is evidence that increased planting and gardens around cities can help to reduce the amount of heat on the streets in the suburbs, which can lead to lower than normal temperatures.

Create a garden

One of the first things that you will need to get a community garden started is a group of people who are interested and dedicated to creating the garden. Local residents will need to be able to support the garden by volunteering their time and effort. Once you have a team of local community members together, you can then start to share ideas about what you’d like to achieve with the garden, the workload of the people involved, as well as get to know each other to build relationships and create a garden you can all enjoy.

There are a few things you will need to investigate, such as whether the garden is on council property (and therefore, what will need to be done to ensure the garden complies with council policies). You will also need to ensure you understand how to establish your community gardening team, your rights and responsibilities, how to conduct a site assessment and working together as a team to discuss any proposals (and any issues) that will go forward to the local council.

Going to an established garden

Ultimo Community Garden

Image Credit: Ultimo Community Garden

If you have spare time for gardening on Sunday mornings and are in the Ultimo area, you may want to get in contact with the Ultimo Community Garden team. Situated in McKee Street Park in Ultimo, the garden is 100% communal and there are no private lots. Members of the public can take a look at the garden freely, so you can go and scope out the garden before joining in, if you wish. The community garden has been host to many members of the community and even students from TAFE and local universities.

With a membership fee of only $20 (and annual renewal fees of $10), you can get a lot for your buck. Children under 16 can also tag along free of charge. Community gardeners can easily feel like they’re giving back to the community and the environment by helping out in the gardens.

Sustainable Chippendale

Or if you live in the Chippendale area, you may want to check out the website for Sustainable Chippendale. The Chippendale gardeners are always active and have a variety of different sized projects across the suburb. The team are always completing a variety of projects, from composting, to helping out with gardens in and around the suburb. They also have a very informative blog that outlines what they have been up to, as well as some great gardening tips.

They often meet on Friday mornings as a group and do some gardening together, and complete any tasks that need to be completed for the week. The main tasks are pruning, mulching, making new garden beds and aerating compost bins. They also have some great information on waste reduction that is aimed at reducing the amount of goods going to waste in landfill.

Alternative locations

If you’re located in another area, you may still want to get involved with an established community garden. You can find a community garden near you here. Once you find a local garden, you just need to get in contact with them directly about what volunteering options they have available at the time of your contact.

Get involved today

Whether you’re looking to start your own community garden or looking to join an established team, you will be able to find a community garden near you. Not only will you be able to learn the basics of gardening, sustainability and organic procedures, but you’ll be giving back to the community and making new friends with other locals. Getting started is easy and getting involved can be a highly rewarding activity.

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