Linwood Community Garden

Cultivating Hope: Trevor Tomlinson says those involved in the garden “feel they’ve achieved something.”

27 May 2009

Growing more than veggies

The South American fruit is one of the more exotic species to have been planted in the garden during a decade of cultivation at the Linwood Avenue site.

“People usually like the basics – potatoes, silverbeet, tomatoes, beans, cabbage – but I like to experiment with different plants we haven’t grown before,” says Trevor, who oversees the volunteers who tend communal areas or their own allotments.

Up to 40 people from the local community help out “fairly regularly” during the year, he says, although numbers drop off during the winter months. The garden is open to anyone; all ages, from school children to retirees, have tended vegetable and flower beds during the past year.

Those who work in the garden are entitled to harvest the produce they’ve grown. However, the community-led project provides people with more than just fresh fruit, herbs and vegetables.

“They feel they’ve achieved something,” says Trevor, as he recalls numerous people – some with health problems or disabilities – who have gained a sense of pride from building planter boxes, making compost, germinating seedlings and watching their plants grow.

Regular Wednesday afternoon get togethers also contribute to the sense of community.

“People can chat, ask questions [about gardening], and share their knowledge. During the winter months last year we made soup from the veggies in the garden. People brought along their recipes. The pumpkin soup was really nice!” laughs Trevor.

The garden project is managed by a trust board of elected locals and comes under the umbrella of Anglican Care. Its Family and Community division employs the community development worker who is based at the centre. The worker helps to promote and seek funding for the centre’s community-led initiatives, including the garden. This position is currently vacant but a new appointment is expected soon. Christchurch City Council owns the resource centre building and surrounding land that is used for the community garden.

A recent addition to the large property is a tunnel house for germinating seeds. Funding has also enabled Trevor and volunteer handyman. Mark to erect wooden benches and a small irrigation system in the tunnel house.

“It’ll be nice and warm in winter, so people can be busy in here even if it’s raining outside,” says Trevor. “The irrigation system will spray a fine mist over the seedlings to make sure they do well.”

Surplus produce and plant cuttings from the garden are made available to the wider community for a donation. During the warmer months, the red cart laden with produce is a popular stopping point on the street. The peaches went especially well this year, according to Trevor. Donations help to buy gardening equipment and materials.

Trevor, who is employed part-time by the trust board, prefers to run the garden on “organic principles”. Everything that’s grown is spray-free and he encourages people to grow flowers as well as vegetables, to entice bees for pollination.

Recycling is also an integral part of the community garden ethos. In one instance, Trevor asked council workers for some of the wood chips they were discarding after trimming trees further down the street. Old slates make a decorative and functional edge to some of the herb beds, and metal strips from an old door make a sturdy frame for a raised vegetable plot.

He hopes school children will continue to be take an active interest in the garden. “Last year we had a group of primary school children who learned how to grow plants. They thought it was amazing that peas come from a pod!”

Trevor’s interest in gardening also started at an early age, with much success. He gained first place in a school-run gardening competition when he was 11 or 12 years old. “I’ve still got the encyclopedia I won,” he says. More recently, his home vegetable garden was awarded first place by his local horticultural society.

In the same way, Trevor has brought his enthusiasm and expertise to Linwood’s community garden. During the past 18 months, he has helped the community transform the somewhat neglected garden into a bountiful backyard. He hopes that funders and locals will continue to support the project so that the garden keeps improving and developing.

Although volunteer numbers are bound to dwindle over winter, and the plants will become dormant, this community garden has the foundations for a bumper spring crop – of community spirit as well as vegetables.