Congrats to our 2022 Grant Recipients!
We’re pleased to announce grant winners for 2022.
The following gardens have received various amounts to either establish or improve their edible gardens.
Scroll down to learn about each one.
Artarmon Parklands Community Garden
Our garden has been operating since November 2019 and has over 70 member gardeners sharing a community garden on a former bowling green. We have members from diverse backgrounds, from novice to experienced gardeners, and we enjoy growing crops from many countries so that we can all learn about new plants.
We have a large area for seasonal crops, raised beds with wicking watering systems, 20+ fruit trees, and flowers to attract beneficial insects. We have active working bees twice a week and aim to be completely organic, adopting more permaculture techniques each season.
USE FOR GRANT: We will spend the money on materials to build permanent trellis structures constructed from wooden posts and metal mesh.
Elm St Bush Tucker Community Garden
This kitchen garden is a little patch of green heaven in the middle of an urban concrete jungle. Located in the Inner west of Sydney, our aim is to promote and bring awareness of our versatile local “Bush Tucker” to our children and to the wider community. This “Bush Tucker” is accessible to everyone and is in keeping with the spirit at Elm St of caring for the environment, caring for each other and growing into a working, living and sustainable world for all to live in.
We are a totally community based long day care service governed by dedicated parents who sit on our Board of Management together with educators and staff. All profits go back into the centre and to the care and education of our children. The garden is located in the front of our service and is accessible to everyone who comes down our street. The fresh ingredients will be used in our meal plans.
Our focus is to create and engage families and our community in the variety of Australian native foods that have been part of the Aboriginal culture for thousands of years and to promote our environmental responsibility to keep our earth healthy.
USE FOR GRANT: This grant will allow us to purchase mulch and fertiliser; some child-sized garden tools such as spades and wheelbarrows and some hardy signage to last in the weather.
Marie Bashir Public School
Our 6 years old primary school based in Strathfield NSW is trying to establish an edible garden within the school ground. We currently have 6 raised garden beds. The school curriculum embedded gardening lesson program objective is to educate students about food production lifecycle; from seeds, seedlings to harvesting through to composting. We are looking to expand by introducing fruit trees and the families of MBPS would also introduce seeds and trees (eg. curry leaf tree) that reflect the multicultural community of this area.
USE FOR GRANT: We need fruit trees, garden hoses and soils for new season planting and netting to protect the seedlings from birds and possums.
Miranda Community Garden
Our garden was started by the Gymea Miranda Uniting Church in early 2010 on a block of land adjacent to and owned by the church. Garden members grow fresh organic produce and plants, share gardening knowledge and ideas, have fun and help each other. Anyone and everyone is welcome to participate.
At present we have about 30 enthusiastic members, the great majority from outside the church congregation. We have over 30 garden beds, all with automated irrigation fed mainly from by our rainwater tanks, a worm farm, compost bins, etc. We have also installed waist high garden beds and three wheelchair accessible garden beds with concrete access paths for gardeners in wheelchairs and gardeners who have restricted mobility. All our garden beds are communal and garden care and produce is shared between MCG members and their friends.
USE FOR GRANT: The grant money will be used mainly to purchase fertiliser for the garden as well as copper tape to deter snails and slugs from some of our garden beds.
Nerang Rd Community Garden
Our garden is a small community garden situated in a local park in Cronulla. We provide a place for people nearby, who live in a built-up area of home units, somewhere to grow food, learn about plants and how to garden, as well as relax and meet new people.
USE FOR GRANT: Replacement of worn out nets, 2 large compost bins and 10 Star Posts.
Normanhurst Public School Eco Garden
At Normanhurst Public School, we have previously had some small vegetable plots in an unsuitable position in the school. The school community including the parents, staff and students would like to reinvent the garden in a suitable sunny position with the ‘Green Team’ at the school managing the garden and each grade would be attached to a part of the garden. The garden would consist of raised garden beds surrounded by walkways and a selection of fruit trees. The beds would contain a selection of herbs, vegetables and fruits that could be harvested by the students and used in cooking. The garden would enhance student learning about sustainability, the growing of produce, the management of the garden and plants and the environment. It would also connect members of the school community with high levels of parent interest and management of the garden also. This input would be through the school’s very active and hands-on P&C community. The vision of the garden forms part a long term project for the school grounds through enhancement and beautification that would last and be an asset to the school.
USE FOR GRANT: Raised Garden Kit; Garden Soil; Mulch; Fruit Trees; Punnets of Seedlings; Watering cans and hoses.
North Sydney Community Centre After School Care Children's Garden
Our After School Care has two raised garden beds without plants, needing loving attention after the disruption to their care during COVID lockdowns. We are ready now to top them up and replant them. Our intention is to make bush tucker, herb and vegetable kitchen gardens, and to link these holistically to our learning program – about native plants, First Nations peoples and their connection to Country, sustainable organic/permaculture gardening principles and practices and healthy nourishment of our bodies as we cook with and eat our own produce. We would also use the garden to learn the value of sharing with our community through a grow free cart.
In the spirit of authentic reconciliation and to maximise children’s engagement through the garden project, we would love to connect with and source plants from local Aboriginal people (eg, Bush to Bowl), invite them in to help us plant and to to learn directly from them about plants native to our area, how to grow and care for them, and their stories and uses.
USE FOR GRANT: We would use the grant to buy compost, manure, fertilisers, mulch, minerals, potting mix, Indigenous plants, Gardening tools/equipment/supplies.
Padstow North Public School Go Green Garden
We would like to set up some garden beds in our school and need a helping hand to start! We feel that our students have a lot to gain from setting up and having access to an edible garden in our primary school grounds. School gardens provide students with ‘hands on’ learning that is rich and inclusive to varied learning abilities. At PNPS we have two Autism support classes and we believe that a school garden will benefit these students greatly. In addition, our school places great emphasis on developing positive wellbeing in our students and research suggests that school gardens can help children learn better, both academically and emotionally. We would like our students to have the opportunity to get a close-up look at natural processes and the living organisms that exist in garden beds. This links directly to our curriculum and our garden would essentially become an outdoor classroom. It is envisaged that by allowing our students to care for plants, they will develop an understanding of the importance of nature in their lives and this will help to develop a culture of environmental stewardship within our school and wider community.
USE FOR GRANT: We would like to purchase some raised garden beds, garden soil for these planters and some vegetable seeds to get us started.
Randwick Public School
Our garden has many roles – education, wellbeing and community building. Most importantly it is an outdoor space for the 1,100 children and staff to enjoy on a small site. After COVID neglect due to school lockdowns and parents not being on site to support the garden, reinvigorating the edible component of the school garden will complement the other gardening projects underway, which the P&C is funding. These projects include: planting natives from the eastern suburbs banksia scrub local plant community; updating the birds, bees and butterflies garden; planting bromeliads to attract frogs; cleaning out the memorial pond; putting in a possum box; reviving the compost heaps; and purchasing new outdoor furniture. The edible garden is a demonstration space to show how seeds transform into edible plants and vegetables. The use of vegetable pods and small raised beds gives an urban community insight into how this can be done in containers or small spaces. The edible garden together with the compost heaps are a mini circular economy. Collectively, with the other garden styles on the school site, the edible garden illustrates the multitude of ways green space can be created and integrated with the traditional native vegetation.
USE FOR GRANT: We will purchase three vegetable pods.
Rockdale Community Garden
Our garden is a Community Garden in the heart of Rockdale. The objectives of the garden include: encouraging community integration in the ethnically diverse area of Rockdale; providing an opportunity for people living in local high-rise apartments to be able to garden; accessibility to all the local community due to its proximity to public transport and high density apartments; providing an opportunity for people to grow produce, and families to learn together about where food comes from; providing a peaceful area where people can sit and relax. We will be planting seasonally appropriate vegetables/herbs and natives, which are adapted to local climate, and this garden will be maintained ongoing to contribute to the green space in the local area.
USE FOR GRANT: Material for 2 new wicking beds – timber, pond liner, pipes, geofabric, soil, fertiliser and scoria.
Warrah Specialist School
WSS runs a unique outdoor curriculum for K to 12 aged children living with moderate to severe disabilities. A large part of our curriculum focuses on farming and gardening. Children are involved in the whole process from preparing the soil, planting the seeds, caring for the gardens, harvesting, and preparing food from the harvest. Our students are also involved in keeping the school gardens growing well and looking beautiful, including our very special sensory garden.
USE FOR GRANT: We will spend the money on buying size appropriate and weight appropriate tools for the gardening program.
