Editorial August 5th 2022

Welcome to this week’s editorial,

Like many in the community I have a little vegie patch. I agree that if I was a little more proactive and a little more knowledgeable the vegie patch would yield more. For the minute is provides the bare needs that are supplemented weekly from the supermarket. But as time goes by and prices for vegies continue to rise I look more and more to my vegie patch and have begun to work out what I can plant that might yield whilst surviving possums, bower birds and chooks.

Being fairly rubbish at vegetable growing I decided many years ago that what I personally needed was a place where I could go to learn more of gardening. A local place, a local community garden run by volunteers much like the models that were popping up in metropolitan areas. Somewhere were I could observe, learn and return home to action. While sitting under a palm tree on a far off Indian coast I day dreamt of a Tuross Head Community Garden.

What we have today in Tuross is beyond what I had ever imagined. It is a tribute to so many who have toiled to create something very special. And it has become that place where you can go and observe and learn. But the path between the initial day dream and the here and now has been burdened by beauracracy. So much so that, by example to other communities thinking they too might like their own community garden my advice would be “prepare for many hurdles and have considerable patience and a deep wallet”.

Back in August 2010, when I was president to the Tuross Head Progress Association, I formed the Tuross Community Garden subcommittee so that formal dialogue could begin between interested members of the Tuross Community and Eurobodalla Shire Council to allow each to scope out the idea of a community garden for Tuross Head.

A year later, after we had scoped out the where, what, why and how Council advised that they would only begin discussions with a formalised incorporated group under their own committee and constitution so as to begin the process of undertaking a lease with Council for the land identified in the Kyla Sporting Precinct plan of management. Thankfully the Tuross Lakes Preservation Group had put aside $1500 to assist in the process of that incorporation, and to cover the accompanying fees and required insurances.

The paper work was burdensome but in the end a lease was drawn up and the first sod of soil turned. Since then the gardens have flourished on their site, community land owned by the community and managed by Council. The gardens operate under a licence. The current licence expires on 31 August 2022 and TCG have expressed interest in renewing their licence to operate the community garden for a further five years. The cost of that licence renewal is $545.00 per year. Add to that the $20 million Public Liability insurance that is required as a condition of the licence and the budget required simply to exist climbs. Fortunately the gardens make their own compost, news paper is donated for weed suppressant and the group holds garage sales to raise funds for vegies, tools and sundry needs. Community gardens are run by volunteers who need to apply considerable effort to find the $1000 or more per year to cover licences and insurances. Imagine if, as was done in days of old, Council stepped in and covered the insurance by including garden volunteers as landcare volunteers as they used to under their own overarching policy. Imagine if they waived licence fees.

Knowing the effort required to raise $545 per year of chutney, cake and bric-a-brac sales how can a $120 million per year organisation justify itself. Yes, there is paperwork but the community employs staff to do that paperwork which is little more than an hour every five years.

Imagine if Council was to encourage community groups to form more community gardens by dropping their annual licence fee as a gesture of good will. Rather than the endless mowing of a space a local community might transform it into a meaningful and fruitful place that nourishes bodies and minds.

Maybe it is time we stopped mowing unused reserves and started planting them with food instead.

The Second World War had an impact on the Australian home front. The supply lines were compromised, European crops were not being harvested and exported and our own agricultural industry was struggling with massive labour shortages along with climate impacts of drought and floods. There was a growing realisation that unless agriculture became a focus food shortages would be imminent and food costs would soar.

Many municipal councils at the time organised gardening collectives and some councils provided incentives, including awarding volunteers a badge with a three carrots design.

Imagine if we were to form neighbourhood gardens and collectives using our unused community land. Pumpkins, cabbages, beans, potatoes, onions, chillies, herbs. And if Council supported. Who knows, we might then take back the community halls we raised funds for and built and have soup kitchens. We could be so much better.

Until next lei