Gardens with friends

The trend towards old-school, crafty, DIY, homegrown and artisanal hobbies hasn’t showed any sign of slowing, with home brewers, knitters and crafters continually coming out of the woodwork, and in the most surprising places, too! Although the city may be the perfect place for knitting in the pub, what happens if your interests are of a greener persuasion?

Even without a garden of your own, you can still get your hands dirty by planting in pots in a window box or on a balcony or – better yet – joining a community garden.

Going green together

Community gardens are certainly nothing new: cities have played host to them for generations, often thanks to migrants with yearnings towards their agrarian past, or just a hankering for fresh produce they can’t get anywhere else. But the recent revival of all things homemade has introduced a whole new generation of potential green thumbs to the joys of small-scale gardening with friends and neighbours.

Many already-established community gardens have waiting lists (sometimes years long) for that personal patch of paradise. The Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network has a directory through which you can search for one in your area, not to mention a whole host of excellent resources for the first-time gardener.

Getting started

If you aren’t keen on waiting, or don’t have a garden in your area, why not start one of your own?

The first step is to get people involved: ask your neighbours, put up signs, send out flyers and post on social-networking sites. It’s a great idea to try to attract people from all walks of life and of all ages, not just to create a diverse group, but also to gain the most diverse skills for your garden project. It helps – but is not essential – to have someone with practical experience in designing and maintaining a garden.

Finding your space

Once you have a dedicated team of people, you’ll need somewhere to dig! Your local council should be able to point you in the right direction here and may even have sites already earmarked for such projects. If you need some funding to get things going, you might be able to apply for grants, such as those the City of Sydney offers.

Deciding what to grow can be tricky. Some gardeners get carried away and have dreams of feeding their entire extended family from their small city plot, but the general rule of thumb is to start small, focus on one or two of your favourite crops to begin with, and see how you manage those first.

Participating in a community garden can be a great way to meet people and grow your own food. They can also bring much-needed green space to urban environments. So, what are you waiting for? Find yourself a patch and get digging.