“The Noosa Community Garden is changing the community for the better. It’s a positive space,“ Mayor Clare Stewart said last Sunday as the garden’s committee, members and supporters celebrated its first birthday and unveiled signs to recognise its many contributors.
“In 2012, Slow Food Noosa, along with United Synergies, founded the community gardens in Earl Street, Tewantin, as an outreach program for local youth who would come together to take care of their school garden,“ community garden president June Copeman said.
“As the gardening initiative made headway, the popularity of having a community garden meant that it was taking on a new life.
“Soon there after the gardens expanded into something for the whole community. In March of 2018, Noosa Community Gardens became incorporated and thus it was no longer under the auspices of organisations that originally brought it to fruition.“
A year ago the garden shifted from Tewantin to its current home on Noosa Council land at Wallace Park.
Since then the committee, its 60 members and with the help of community donations and volunteers the garden is flourishing on its new site, with plans for future expansion.
On Sunday garden treasurer Robert Mayfield thanked the many people and organisations who had contributed to the project. The input was wide-ranging and included a grant from Noosa Council, a grant from Waves of Kindness to complete its garden design and fencing, and donations from Tewantin Noosa Bendigo Bank, Cordwell’s concrete, Tewantin Noosa Lions and many others.
Students from the Maroochydore-based Australian Industry Trade College have supplied about 200 hours of voluntary work building raised garden beds, wicker beds and trellises. A college spokesman said in return for their labour students were able not only to demonstrate the values held by the college but reap rewards from the “rich tapestry of the community“.
June said stage one of the relocation from Earl Street was now complete and this coming year the plan was to tackle stage two which includes building a snail shaped garden in honour of the gardens roots.
“The snail is the representative symbol of Slow Food Noosa, the community organisation that was instrumental in setting up the garden 10 years ago and providing the garden with the fundamental principles of good, clean and fair, local and sustainable,“ she said.
“We made it happen.“
