Gloucester Community Garden celebrates five years of growth

GLOUCESTER Community Garden celebrated its fifth birthday last Saturday. 

Members and supporters were invited to Gloucester District Park for a tour of the garden and enjoy games and a birthday cake.

President Pat Burrows started the celebrations with a short history of the garden.

Early in 2020, a meeting was held at the Gloucester Library to discuss the idea of a community garden.

After almost 18 months of planning and working with the council our first wicking beds were installed and an opening ceremony was held in June 2021.

Thanks to grants and the support from the Gloucester community, along with sausage sizzles, garage sales and regular recycling of bottles and cans, the garden is now well equipped.

We have a worm farm, a water supply, water tanks, sheds, tools and flourishing gardens.

All our weekly efforts and ongoing ‘growth’ has been the result of generous donations from local businesses, groups and individuals, who continue to support the garden.

After the talk, Pat and other committee members led us on a tour of the garden.

The wicking beds have been temporarily moved to allow for part of the site to be filled and better drainage installed. At times, wet weather has made maintenance of the beds difficult.

The tour continued alongside the ‘living fence’, plantings that help define the site’s boundary and through the ‘Arc de Triomphe’, which provides support for climbing plants.

Running parallel to one side of the tennis courts is another living fence consisting of a long garden bed with fruit trees that have been espaliered – their spreading branches supported by horizontal wires.

A highlight of any garden tour was a talk by Gloucester’s composting king, Steve Robinson. Apart from discussing optimal operating temperatures, Steve also explained that composting material is sourced from a local cafe, joinery sawdust, swimming pool grass clippings, leaves, and miscellaneous sources of manure.

Tour over, it was time to cut the cake and play bocce, kumquat and spoon races, and toss the bean bag, which left participants too exhausted for the tug-of-war.

As Pat explained, the garden is more about community than gardening.

Everyone is welcome to enjoy the garden, contribute in any way, or share in the fruits of the gardeners’ labours.

We are busy working on Tuesday mornings, but happy to stop for a chat with visitors.

Contact gloucestercommunitygarden@gmail.com to be part of the future of Gloucester Community Garden.

By Tibor KOVATS

Gloucester Community Garden