Since 1997, people have gathered at the Punchbowl Community Garden to not only grow produce, but to learn and connect with others.
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Garden member Jo Dean said there were more than 100 plots in the garden, and it was a “wonderful way to bring people together.”
“I think one of the wonderful things about it is the sharing of knowledge. It’s so important, especially with the different generations,” she said.
“We’ve got young children with their families right through to the older generations who share the knowledge they have.
“It’s also a great way to provide food security.”
Ms Dean said she had a love of gardening since she was a child, and was always “fascinated by the natural environment”.
She studied a Bachelor of Science where she specialised in soil science, and enjoyed looking into the connections between “healthy soil, healthy plants, and healthy people.”
“From the time of hunter gatherer cultures there has been an understanding of food as medicine, to keep us healthy, and there is so much to learn relating to food plants from all regions of the globe, including our local indigenous plants,” she said.
Ms Dean said as part of her work with the Women’s Friendship Group, workshops were held in the community garden.
“We meet [at the community garden] once a month with the Afghan Hazara community to learn about community gardening, but also there’s a lot of language learning, and learning about the kinds of foods we can grow ,” she said. “We share recipes as well.”
The community garden was named Launceston’s Gardening Great as part of a competition by the Yellow Pages, White Pages, and Australian City Farms and Community Gardens Network.
The garden will feature on the cover of the Launceston and North Eastern Tasmania book for 2018.
Yellow Pages spokesperson Erin Williamson said the three groups involved in the competition shared a common goal of connecting members of local communities.
“We also share a mutual love for gardening and appreciation for the benefits of community gardens and urban agriculture,” Ms Williamson said.
“We are excited to see the nations gardening king and queens celebrated on the cover of our directories over the coming months and hope to encourage more Aussie’s to get their hands dirty and relish the benefits of gardening too.”
Yellow and White Pages books featuring the Punchbowl Community Garden will be distributed from April 7.