Hawker Community Garden
A place to meet, socialise and get involved in organic gardening
Aims
Through this project we aim to transform unused land at the Hawker Shops into an attractive and productive community garden. It will become a place where local community members can socialise and work together to create and enjoy a shared garden, and learn about sustainable living.
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We will demonstrate priniciples of circular economy, using recycled materials, composting and worm farms in our design. We will plant trees to improve carbon capture, and help to manage urban heat sinks from the surrounding car parks. Did you know that surface heat mapping showed the Hawker Shops was 2-4 degrees above the mean (34.4 deg) at mid morning in summer?
The concept and plan
The site is unused land behind the toilet block at the shops. We are building the garden in 3 stages, to test the concept and as funding becomes available. All garden beds are communal - there are no individual plots - and produce is shared.​
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The garden beds are made from plastic IBCs and designed as wicking beds to reduce watering needs. The beds will be framed with timber for aesthetic and safety reasons.
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We will hold market days and workshops (composting, seed raising etc) to provide opportunities for local community members to socialise, learn about organic gardening and exchange knowledge and ideas.
Stage 1
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Activities began with an Open Day (27 February 2022) where we built two wicking beds as part of a demonstration activity. We built six more beds in March and early April with help from local community members. The shade tree strip was planted in May with deciduous trees and low shrubs.
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Floriade Community 2022
We participated in Floriade Community in spring 2022, planting bulbs and annuals to create a colourful display and brighten up the public space around the public toilets.
Stages 2 and 3
We received a second grant from the ACT Government Community Gardens Grants Program 2022-23 to carry out these activities. Work is underway, and so far we have:
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constructed a final wicking bed (so there's now a set of 9)
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constructed and planted the native garden at the front of the toilet block
Fruit trees and a bush food garden are still to come.
