The SEEDS garden at Milparinka came about because we wanted to create opportunities for people. Opportunities for people, that Milparinks supports, to share with others their interest in gardening along with the opportunity to develop roles that are valued and connect them to more people and places in the community. We know that when people have valued roles and they are sharing time with others who value their participation, when they have more people, relationships and movement in their lives, good things happen.
Gardening Australia filmed a segment for their ABC program in 2024 and their summry is here. You can also watch the segment by clicking n the Youtube link below.
The community cupboard for sharing food, sited on a Brunswick footpath, offers a good clue for what lies in the Seeds Community Garden behind the fence: inclusion, generosity and community.
Seeds is a garden where people living with a disability can connect with the local residents over a shared love of gardening, plants…and a cuppa.
Garden manager Jo Townsend says the garden was a bare patch of lawn nine years ago. Milparinka wanted to turn the space into something more substantial that would enrich the lives of people the service supports.
Garden club runs twice a week for people to garden together and then share food and a drink afterwards.
The garden is run along no-dig and permaculture principles. The goal is for every plant introduced to have multiple uses. Harvests are recorded for everything that’s picked and in most years a tonne of food is grown here.
The harvest is shared among the gardeners but also with the wider community, via food relief organizations and the community cupboard on the footpath.
A soup festival is held every year, which started with wanting to share a few pumpkins and has grown to hosting more than 1,000 visitors.
An exciting new addition is a food-waste dehydrator; a machine that turns vegie scraps into ready-to-go fertiliser over an 8-10 hour cycle. Already 2,000 kg of food has already been diverted from landfill since it was installed. Food waste is collected from local businesses, while the end result is delivered to schools and other community organisations.
Filmed on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country in Brunswick, Vic.
