Sunnyfields in Northcote is one of the latest additions to Melbourne’s rapidly growing stable of community gardens.
The Northcote Baptist Church established Sunnyfields with support from not-for-profit organisation Cultivating Community.
It was officially opened in May and in the past couple of weeks gardeners have begun picking their first produce.
The gardeners
Fairlie Collins holds one of 22 plots at the garden, along with her husband and two children.
She says she jumped at the chance to get involved in a community garden.
“From an early age my mum used to do a lot of gardening so I’ve always been interested in producing my own food and I enjoy being outside,” she says.
“When I saw the ad for plot holders I thought I would love to be involved in that so I applied and sure enough, we were granted a plot.”
Fairlie says the box plots at Sunnyfields are ideal for those who have limited room to garden at home.
“We live in a terrace house so we don’t have any fertile soil at home at all to produce any food so the ability to have 1.2 metres by 1.2 metres of soil is really valuable for us,” she says.
“It’s not only great for producing fruit and vegetables but also so the kids can come and get a bit dirty.
“We picked the first of our baby spinach this week and I know there’s quite a bit of lettuce already being picked.”
The Collins family is also growing sugar snap peas, rainbow chard and baby carrots and has big plans for the summer.
Fairlie Collins regularly tends her plot with three-year-old Ada and eight-month-old Ethan. Photo: Angus Verley
“The idea for summer is to grow berries and cherry tomatoes just because I know the kids will love to pick and eat those directly from the plot,” Fairlie says.
“It does encourage the kids to eat more vegetables because it makes eating different foods fun when you’re able to pick directly from the source.
“Another thing that’s been a great benefit has been having a safe place for the kids to come and play, with the knowledge that it’s completely fenced.”
Fairlie says if people have the chance to get involved with a community garden, they should take it.
“It’s quite life enriching to be involved with something like this if you’re living within a small space without a backyard and it’s been lovely to meet and get to know people within the garden.”
Cultivating Community
Cultivating Community has worked mainly with housing commissions to establish 19 community gardens around the city.
Sunnyfields is the first public community garden Cultivating Community has been involved in and Liz Chapman, who oversaw the organisation’s involvement, says it came down to community demand.
“The community was showing a strong interest in a community garden so Northcote Baptist Church contacted us and asked us if we would help them establish one on their vacant land,” she says.
“Because our access to the land is temporary, we’ve made a pop-up garden, which means we can literally pick up the garden boxes and move them to another location.
“I think this initiative, where we’re temporarily using the land while it’s vacant, is the best option for an ever-changing city.”
Liz says there is a diverse range of vegetables being grown at Sunnyfields.
“Lettuce, snow peas, spinach, carrots and bok choy are probably the most well represented vegetables at the moment but because we have quite a multicultural membership, there’s quite a mix of what’s being grown,” she says.
The lettuce is thriving at Sunnyfields. Photo: Angus Verley
“We’re hoping that when we put in a communal section if people want to grow larger things like pumpkins or brassicas then they’ll be able to.”
Sunnyfields is also working on a composting system to complement the garden.
“We’re waiting on some worms but as of now, the Bakeshop across the street is bringing over the bulk of their scraps to be composted,” Liz says.
“We’re hoping to get some other cafes on board and make this a bit of a community composting hub once we get our system established.”
Liz says she expects demand for community gardens to continue to grow.
“I think there’s a really, really high demand for community gardens and I think as the density of the urban space grows and more flats go up people will be requesting more community garden spaces,” she says.
“For organisations that are looking to establish or get involved with community gardens, Cultivating Community is in a pretty good position to help them out with ideas and our website is quite informative in this regard.
“Information from the Australian City Farms and Community Gardens Network would also be quite useful.”
Liz says Cultivating Community is always accepting expressions of interest from those wanting to volunteer with the organisation.
