We all know the dream of having either a balcony, windowsill or backyard vegetable patch that provides us with beans, lettuce, carrots and herbs, all perfectly sized and picked in a stylish wicker basket. The (successful) vegetable patch is more often an urban legend than a suburban reality, but Brisbane's local community gardens are making the dream much easier to realise.
If your green thumb is more of a yellow-brown colour, and important farming factors like soil, sunlight and water schedules are mysteries you’ve never understood, have a geeze into these community gardens that will help you brush up on your gardening skills, and get your table looking fresh once more.
Northey Street City Farm
Windsor
A classic for the Brisbane north side, the Northey Street City Farm is a permaculture heaven that aims to educate and provide fresh food to the locals that tend to it, and those in the community that are struggling as well. With agricultural infrastructure like a green waste recycling centre, worm farms, beehives as well as hirable allotments, you can grow your own goods or shop the regular organic farmers markets that showcase the best of the farm’s produce.
Beelarong Community Farm
Morningside
Set up to nurture interest in sustainable living, the Beelarong Community Farm is a sprawling 4000m2 that is home to a compost and worm farm, a cob oven, raised garden beds and rain tanks. You can become a member for a small fee, or browse through the garden at any time, just don’t steal any of their lovingly tended capsicums.
Vera Street Community Garden
Toowong
If gardening is your passion but not your strong suit, the team at Vera Street Community Garden will put their dirt-clad hands around you and help you learn all of the basics. With weekly Sunday working bees to get you right into the action, the Vera Street Garden aims to grow sustainable produce and create community for everyone.
Graceville Community Garden
Graceville
Coming up on it’s tenth birthday, the Graceville Community Garden is a place where people share a common love of gardening, learning, growing and sharing. With plenty of involvement from regular garden tenders who can answer all your gardening questions, the only things the Graceville Community Garden won’t stand for are possums and insects munching on their vegetables.
Jane Street Community Garden
West End
Growing nearly 200 varieties of edible plants including vegetables, herbs, fruit and salad greens, the Jane Street Community Garden has a mission to enrich people’s lives with a practical connection to sustainable food growing and harvesting methods. With individual plots available for rent, as well as communal herb plots that can be harvested by the wider community, you can adopt a beehive as the cherry on top.
Bethania Street Community Garden
Lota
The best part of a community garden, for newcomers at least, is the helping hands and words of advice that get your growing skills really up and running. The Bethania Street Community Garden has over 200 members, all of the gardening is done communally and the produce is shared, you just have to be a member to reap the rewards.
Want to try growing your own garden at home? These seed packets might help.
Image credit: Daiga Elleby