Where do baby cucumbers come from?

With urban development pushing rural industries to the city outskirts, people are now detached from the origins of their food. Community gardens are helping re-introduce end consumers to the source of their fresh produce.

Too many kids today think fruit and vegetables are manufactured in a factory. They only ever see them displayed, neatly cleaned up and too often wrapped in plastic, in a supermarket tray. Apart from the wastage, this clinical presentation of natural foods robs children of the joy and appreciation of knowing where their food comes from, how it grows, what it looks like in the wild, and, most of all, how to grow it themselves.

If you don’t have enough space or the right kind of soil for a home garden you can seek out a community garden.

Addison Road Community Garden is one of an increasing number of communal plots around Sydney that allows residents to plant, grow, reap, and share a variety of vegetables, herbs, flowers, and fruit. Located on the grounds of the Addison Road Community Centre, the garden is open and accessible, and when you join as a member, you can be part of a community of urban farmers.

Gardening is a wonderful family activity and an especially beautiful bonding medium between young and older people. Addison Road Community Garden is a safe, inclusive space; one where the diverse mix of people from around Newtown can meet on rich, fertile, common ground.

Gardening has been proven to be beneficial for physical, emotional and mental health. Kids spend so much time on devices and staring at screens. Gardening is a perfect way to get them out into the sunshine and use their hands, arms and legs, and be part of a the real world.

Through some of the workshops and initiatives at Addison Road garden, kids and adults can learn about composting and worm farming; how to identify food that is still edible, even though it might be too “ugly” for some people to buy; and how to prepare and cook produce that comes from the community garden.

There aren’t many opportunities for urban kids to get back in touch with nature and learn how generous the earth/Earth can be if you treat it well. Farming is another world. Addison Road Community Garden can be a small portal to that world.