This article is a summary only of the podcast conversation “Ep 4: How Smokva Community Garden Cultivates Connection & Growth. Listen here to the full episode on Spotify podcasts or Apple podcasts, and go here for the relevant links mentioned in the podcast, or read on to enjoy the photos and summary of how Smokva Community Garden cultivates connection and growth in their community.

How Smokva Community Garden Cultivates Connection & Growth

Community gardens are green spaces that serve a purpose beyond simply growing fresh food. They’re about cultivating connections and are a rich solution to tackling big issues. Today we’re joined by Adrian Garner from Smokva Community Garden in Wickham NSW. Adrian shares his local knowledge and experience on how community gardens are more than just a space for plants.

Green Spaces Benefit the Community

Smokva Community Garden is hidden behind an unassuming fence, enclosed by a boundary of tall plants and trees on the grounds of the Croatian Sports Club. Volunteer gardeners meet weekly to tend the garden, however the garden co-ordinator Adrian says it’s the social connections that end up being more valuable than the gardening itself.

Communal by design, the garden is a place for neighbours to connect with others in their local suburb who share a passion for creating something that’s enjoyed by many. Adrian likes how the garden provides a tangible way for residents to help mitigate climate change and positively make a difference to the environment.

Community gardens are free and accessible to everyone. They are a space to experiment with growing plants, creatively repurpose materials that would otherwise go to waste, and a place to develop compassion for others whilst reflecting on personal values related to place, space and food.

Sustainable Gardening Practices

Smokva’s winding garden paths have a mix of crops planted directly in the ground, in addition to some wicking beds. Key projects at the garden include planting seeds & seedlings, weeding, growing their own mulch and composting with food scraps from the community.

Nurturing Community Connections

In a community striving for sustainability, the Smokva Community Garden plays a vital role in addressing food waste and fostering connections among locals. Currently there’s no Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) system in the local government area, making it a great place for locals to bring their food scraps.

Adrian is deeply committed to the positive impact the community garden has on creating wholesome community connections. The garden is a place to slow down, have a conversation, tend to plants and support others. The garden co-ordinator states that going “slow enables you to stop and to watch and to understand”. Adrian believes people are more engaged when something’s more complicated rather than being given a simple, fast solution.

In addition to helping a local cafe with its food waste, Smokva Community Garden collaborated with Rising Tide’s inaugural 2023 coal blockade. They contributed herbs to flavour the food provided at the blockade, and accepted the returned food waste from the event back into the garden.

A Balanced Exchange

As a community garden, it’s there for the community. Everyone is welcome to access, walk through and enjoy the garden, with the understanding that it’s focused on sharing with others.

Smokva Community Garden follows permaculture principles, focusing on the core ethics of Fair Share, People Care and Earth Care. As a shared space guided by these principles, receiving a reasonable give and take of the produce is paramount.

One challenge of growing in the open is that people may take what they want. Adrian emphasises that positive conversations help people understand the balance between giving and receiving.

Another challenge is that some people who aren’t involved in the garden see it as an open space for dumping unwanted items instead of taking them to the tip. The garden has no waste removal facilities, which requires them to operate in a fully circular way by preventing waste in the first place. They have to find out ways to repurpose their own waste without dealing with others’ waste.

Starting a Community Garden is a Great Initiative

An idea for a community garden in your area is a wonderful start, as “seed-planters” are essential to making a project happen. To ensure the garden’s ongoing sustainability, Adrian recommends that your team include initiators, connectors and long-termers who share a passion for making the community garden thrive.

Your enthusiasm for the garden will become infectious, inspiring others who want to become part of your community garden. Each garden has it’s own unique aesthetic and atmosphere.

Cultivating a thriving community garden in your area is possible, especially when it enriches the connections and actions within your local community.

The ReNewy Living Podcast was recorded on Awabakal country. I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and waters in the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region of New South Wales.

I hope you’re feeling more confident about doing better for our people and planet by taking a start where you live approach to living sustainably. If this episode has spurred you into action, please feel free to share it with your friends. It would mean the world to me!

Listen into the stories and voices of this story here at Spotify podcasts and here at Apple Podcasts… And you can also sign up to my regular emails here… I look forward to sharing more stories with you next time.

Ep 4 How Smokva Community Garden Cultivates Connection & Growth

Links from the Podcast episode

Smokva Community Garden (website) – community garden at the Croatian Wickham Sports Club Cooperative, Newcastle NSW. The name Smokva, translating to ‘fig tree’ in Croatian, is a reference to the previously-named Fig Tree Community Garden
Smokva Community Garden (instagram)
Rising Tide – movement demanding that Australia honours our commitment to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.
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