Riverside has embarked on an exciting new venture – creating a Community Garden amongst the tranquil setting alongside the North Para River. With the assistance of a government grant and 15-20 willing helpers, we are growing vegetables and herbs which is already producing a regular harvest for our commercial kitchen.
Our aim broadly is to grow food which can be used by Nicole and the kitchen team in their menus and meal packs they create. In addition to being productive growing space, we also ensure our Community Garden is a great place for people to connect. So, we have named our garden ‘Purruna’, which in Kaurna language means Life Giving and Wellbeing. This perfectly represents what we want our Community Garden to be.
The vision we have for our Community Garden at Riverside is 4-fold:
· A safe place where people can come and find peace and restoration. A place of calm and nurture and listening. God does some of His finest work with us in a garden.
· Inclusive of everyone, with a particular focus towards those who are vulnerable, homeless or doing it tough, standing alongside them as they help grow the vegetables and watching them benefit from the proceeds of the harvest through the food that the kitchen produces. Helping in the beginning and sharing in the spoils at the end.
We are also keen to involve local Aboriginal groups and invite Elders to share with us their knowledge in growing and using bush foods, such as Warrigal Greens, Finger Limes, Bush Tomatoes and native berries.
· Successful harvesting, where we grow lots of great produce for our fantastic kitchen team to use in creating even fresher, more healthy meals.
· Environmentally aware, by using only organic gardening methods to grow the healthiest produce and to use the most water-efficient methods of irrigation.
So…if this Community Garden concept is something that piques your interest, even a little bit, we’d love to hear from you. You can contact Josh on 0468 394 569 or Rick on 0417 832 502, who will be able to answer any questions you may have and point you in the right direction.
We’d love to hear from you