The Roaming Gnome

New Orleans

What a start to the American Community Gardening Conference! These guys really get into it over here! Just fabulous.

There were so many great talks and workshops to attend and people to meet. A really good opportunity to network and get to know the scene in the US. There was everything from how to leverage funding, managing volunteers, building capacity in the community by working with universities and so much more.

Linda and Lara from Denver Urban Gardens both delivered excellent talks about their work and the impact it is having on communities in Denver and the pre conference workshops were just wonderful and were followed by my first intro to southern food.

Atlanta

So I’m a bit behind in keeping you all up to date on my fellowship travels in the US but I’ll get you up to speed over the next few days!

I started in Atlanta. What a big, sprawling city with so many magnificent big trees everywhere! It’s nearly as green as Singapore! I started with a visit to the Martin Luther King Memorial and was blessed to meet one of his old comrades whilst ther. What a start to the trip!

Fred from the Food Well Alliance, who exist to support community gardening activities in the city, spent a day showing me myriad community gardens of every denomination. So many diverse expressions of the same theme and so lovely to immerse myself in. This city really has it happening on the urban agriculture front despite the usual problems of lack of funding support in many spaces and difficulties with regulations but they just get on with it and keep growing- a joy to see!

The Food Well Alliance is lucky to have a strong funding base to support their work and they do a fabulous job of supporting gardens in many ways. I love their volunteer program where they take groups of predominantly students to gardens that need a hand and in the space of a day can transform spaces and get big projects done. There is so much scope for programs like this to be implemented in Australia.

Spain

Wow! Beautiful Spain - even in full drought. I do love it here and yeah, it is the foodie in me speaking in so many ways but also it’s the vibe of the place with it’s laid back atmosphere and afternoon siesta shut downs so everyone can relax from the heat.

And are these guys doing some community gardening or what!!! Big gardens, so many involved. And popping up more and more all the time. There is some fabulous local government support in Adalucia and the Cordoba Botanical Gardens also have some great programs led by the amazing Rafael who is just a powerhouse in this region and known by all in the scene in Spain.

I was really shown an amazing time by these guys from day one with particular thanks to Carmen who organised it all. They had everything planned out for me with garden visits, viewing their research hub, taking with staff - just brilliant. I gave presentations that were translated and was filmed for a short doco they are doing - it really was all happening! And once again, much knowledge gained.

Paris

It was such a pleasure to meet with two fabulous women in Paris doing so much great work to support community gardens. Laurence Baudelet is the Project Coordinator for Graine de Jardins and also the legend who kick started the City Of Paris’s Main Verte (green thumb) program which is now managed by Claire Alexandre.

I met with Claire at one of the cities big parks where they were participating a garden festival for the weekend. There were people and children everywhere! It was so lovely of Claire to take a large chunk of time out from the crowds to explain their work and the general community gardening scene in Paris. Turns out the City of Paris provides exceptional support for community gardens which was a nice surprise and another great example to lend support to our call for the same in Australia.

Laurence and I had met previously at the conference in Berlin so in some ways it was like meeting up with an old friend (funny how anyone you’ve known longer than two days feels like that when you travel solo!) What she doesn’t know about community gardening in France probably isn’t worth knowing and she was just wonderful to talk to and shared so much about the whole scene in France. It was great to get a lot of the history of how community gardening has evolved over the past 20 years and not just in France. She has a pretty good overview of the whole scene in the EU so I was blessed to spend time learning from her.

Milan

Milan was inspiring! I enjoyed a lovely visit to Orti di via Padova community garden where the president and one of the board members showed me around their very active garden. People kept on coming in and out of the gate whilst I was there and they had so many different projects going on from bees and compost to a university study on aquaponice.

Then it was off to meet with Cecile from the Sectetariat for the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact. I have to admit to being quite sceptical about this visit, thinking that it was just another one of “those documents” that everyone signs but does nothing about like the Paris Agreement. It was so brilliant to be proven well and truly wrong on this one!

The MUFPP has actually had quite a profound impact. There are now 240 cities around the globe signed up (including City of Sydney and Melbourne - well done guys) and the excellent framework that has been laid out by Milan has actually really helped all these cities to make super positive and very quick changes to support urban agricultural activities including community gardens.

Celcile took me through multiple examples where cities have made real change that has had outstanding impact on the community such as in Dakar in Senegal, a city with little to no green space in the urban environment. Since signing the pact they have actively promoted rooftop gardening, particularly during the pandemic when supply chains were so slow that access to food became a major issue. These rooftop gardens are not only providing families with food but are also providing women with income from the sale of excess produce, giving them a measure of independence and the ability to improve both their own, and the lives of their children.

Vienna

I had a wonderful time in Vienna with the crew from Gartenpolylog. It started with a berry planting session at a fabulous garden in front of some new apartment buildings where green space and community growing has been incorporated into the design. Well done to the developers for recognising the importance of including such important green spaces into their plans.

I then went on to visit a couple of fabulous gardens the following day. One on an old coal train line and the other was a very large garden by Australian standards who were celebrating their 10 year anniversary. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people having so much fun in a community garden before! It was a wonderful celebration which I was honoured to be invited to. Thank you to both gardens for inviting me.

Prague

Of all the places I planned to visit, Prague was the one I was looking forward to the most. Not just because it is ranked as one of the most beautiful cities in the world (it certainly ticks that box) but because it is home to an organisation called Kokoza.

From when I first stumbled across these guys and took a look at their website I wanted to meet them and find out more. Their core ethics, self management style and business model were something I knew I could learn a lot from. And boy oh boy did I learn a thing or two from them!

Not only did they look after me and ensure I had everything I needed whilst in Prague (including and awesome campsite in the middle of a community garden) but they also gave me a huge amount of their time and shared with me so openly. I now have so many ideas and possibilities of where we can take things with CGA! It’s just wonderful!

From e-shops to rocket composting, teal management to integrated workshops, grant funding to recruitment - we seemed to manage to cover it all.

Budapest

Beautiful Budapest! What a wonderful experience! Such an incredible old city to wander around in.

It’s such a pity that there is not more support for community gardens here as the impact that the ones that are here are having on the community is just beautiful. Unfortunately the government is getting less supportive over the years.

However the work that the lovely ladies from the Contemporary Architecture Centre do is inspiring. In the face of adversity they continue to push for more gardens, support for the ones that are there and for the government and municipalities to recognise the value of green community spaces. I applaud their work and wish them the very best with their work.

Berlin

The national community gardens conference in Berlin, run by Anstiftung, was a fabulous opportunity to meet people from all over the EU working in this space. The Edible Cities Network was also meeting at the same time which meant some of the sessions were translated into English for us all which was great. The event was held over the weekend at Princessinnengarten which is a community garden inside a cemetery of all places! It’s a long story but essentially Berlin has hundreds of cemeteries of which many are now rarely used so reusing the spaces for edible gardening is one of the possibilities being trialled in the city.

I was able to present a keynote lecture on community gardening in Australia which was very well received. Us community gardeners really enjoy learning what other people do in their gardens and it’s no different on the other side of the globe! They were all extremely surprised at the work we do as volunteers back home and felt that this journey I am on was a brilliant opportunity to connect all these networks around the world going forward. Something I will make sure we do by providing the opportunity for us all to connect online a couple of times a year to share what we are doing, the wins and the losses. Thanks to the CGA team for all that you do as volunteers - the rest of the world is cheering us on!

I have to admit some green envy when I look at Anstiftung and all the wonderful work they do, all funded by a private trust fund. If only we could all have such simple access to money like this to achieve our goals!

Amsterdam

Thankfully I was able to salvage my visit to Amsterdam after another meeting cancellation. Last minute I was lucky to be able to meet with Els and Annameike from the Allotment Garden Association and Fleur from Anna’s Tuin Ruitge Garden.

It surprised me to discover that whilst The Netherlands comes across to many as a very tolerant society, their government does not do much at all in the way of supporting urban agriculture. Organisations here struggle for funding perhaps even more than we do yet they are known worldwide for some fabulous urban agriculture initiatives. Interesting.

I was given a tour of an allotment site that was very beautiful. The gardens there were mainly ornamental with their gorgeous little cottages and sun decks everywhere.

Anna’s Tuin was a fabulous, rambling permaculture garden with pockets of edible goodness everywhere. Just gorgeous! A bunch of volunteers rocked up just before I left and we’re all happily chatting away and preparing to sheet mulch another site. So lovely to see. This garden provides a lot of public education about permaculture gardening and has a really joyful feel about it.

Scotland

My time in Scotland was very enlightening. Similar to Wales, the Scottish government is quite supportive of urban agriculture activities. I was very interested in some joint partner projects with the NHS where gardens supporting mental health projects are funded. Although still somewhat clunky in many respects I feel quite strongly that this is one of the many ways forward.

When we can make our governments understand that giving people greater, supported access to gardening activities and fresh, healthy local food as the best way to improve health outcomes and keep people out of the health system for longer, we will really be getting somewhere!

Thanks to Elinor at the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Nicky from Redhall Walled Garden, Liz from Jock Tamsin’s Gairden and Karen from Social Farms and Gardens for taking the time to talk to me and show me around your fabulous growing spaces.

Oh and I also managed to enjoy some street theatre and comedy at the fringe festival and the Royal Edinburgh Tattoo on my last night. What a spectacle that was!

Had a wonderful time in Todmorden with the amazing Pam Warhurst who is a true inspiration to me. Pam started the Incredible Edible network 14 years ago with like minded friends as a way to combat climate change from the local level. Her energy, drive and common sense thinking really resonate with me and she works tirelessly to bring food and climate justice to all of us. She makes me want to reach for the stars, make a plan and then go for it with every last bit of my being.

We had many a laugh, a lot of passionate conversations, garden visits, great food and I even ended up helping her family cater a wedding 😂 We had such a blast!

The last couple of days I spent In Machynlleth included a visit to the world renowned Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT). CAT has been a showcase for sustainable living for nearly 50 years and was built on an abandoned mine site to show just what we can actually achieve if we really want to if we are serious anout healing our planet. I absolutely loved it and got some fabulous ideas including some clever insect hotels made from old tyres.

The Welsh Government is a true leader in the realms of tackling climate change and is therefore very supportive of community gardening and growing projects. The Welsh branch of Social Farms and Gardens is really well funded and has a number of staff around the country.

It’s very interesting seeing the differences in government support in the countries of the UK and Ireland that all pack into a space about the size of Victoria….

After a lovely road trip to see some sights and enjoy some camping I ended up in Bristol where I was lucky to meet Jeremy Iles, former CEO of the Federation of City Farms and Gardens (now Social Farms and Gardens) and co-founder of the Urban Agriculture Consortium. Jeremy has dedicated much of his life to working towards a safe food future for all and it was a real honour to meet with him on his community allotment and enjoy fresh blackberries and apples with him.

Jeremy talked about how although we still are nowhere near where we need to be with regards to securing a safe food future for us all there has been noticeable change in how people think and how policy makers engage in this space. For me it gave me a deeper sense of hope that we can make the changes we need before it’s too late.

Kew Gardens - wow! I was welcomed by lovely Jane and Eleanor who both gave me a lot of their time to share with me what Kew is doing with regards to supporting community food growing activities.

The work Jane does with marginalised groups and the homeless is a real inspiration to me. She is so well connected and does everything she can to ensure what was once considered waste at Kew (tired or excess plants) goes to all the people and community gardens that will love and appreciate them. The education she provides to those who need it most is making a real difference in the lives of real people. What a community champion!

The Land Skills Fair was an experience like no other for me. A space full of people so passionate about growing food the right way (non-industrialised agriculture), caring for the land that provides for us, sharing skills and activism.

It has been somewhat exhausting in the sense that there have been so many intense talks, conversations and learning - it’s hard to shut the brain down at the end of the day! And it’s a very large site so there has been a lot of walking every day (including lots of walking through a gorgeous woodland 🥰)

I’ve learnt to hand spin wool, wet felt a flower and how to create string from nettles. I’ve toured an incredible organic farm and participated in some extremely thought provoking talks and discussions. And what I have learnt from sharing with so many magnificent humans - wow! I barely know where to start!!!