Watch this space for Julie McLean's new community garden in Tamatea, Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland
Watch this space for Julie McLean's new community garden in Tamatea, Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland
As the sun shone brightly on Hawke’s Bay Wednesday morning, keen gardeners Julie McLean and friend Chris Wells (with help from Daisy the dog) were hard at work on McLean’s front lawn on Lancaster St, Tamatea.
However, soon there won’t be any lawn in sight, as the space is transformed into what will eventually be an inspirational new garden for the community.
“I remember years ago begging my husband when we lived in our first house if we could put a garden in the front of our property, like in [the TV show] The Good Life, but I wasn’t allowed to,” McLean said as she walked through the work-in-progress site.
“After 30-odd years of marriage, I’ve broken him down.”
McLean said besides her personal love for gardening, the idea for a community space came as a result of realising the rising cost of food and wanting to give back to the community.
“Chris and I have had many yarns after tea talking about it. We saw a movie held at the Environment Centre about sustainable eating and sustainable food.”
This prompted the two to set plans in motion to create the garden, which would be instilled with key themes that include permaculture and food resilience.
No holes are being dug on site, with cardboard laid on the lawn and mulched over. Apple boxes would house produce grown in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.
Three composters will eventually line the fence, and there will be more water infrastructure put in place to help keep the plants healthy.
People can come when they can or need, helping and supporting each other through a love of gardening.
“It’s not a handout, it’s not like they have to stand in line at MSD, they can come and help out and if they can’t help out [in the garden] just come and have a coffee and a chat or help with the food,” McLean said.
Chris Wells and Julie McLean are community garden enthusiasts from Tamatea, Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland
According to Wells, the pair originally looked at a block of council land down the road, but admittedly it was “probably a bit big” to start.
“Often the interest in community gardens wanes and it turns into just one or two people doing the work.”
But judging by the responses so far, it’s likely this won’t be the case for Lancaster St.
Plenty of people had been contacting McLean through Facebook with encouraging comments and offers to help.
Community members have already contributed seeds, leftover tree branches and supplies for mulching. McLean and Wells also put the word out and kept an eye out for usable compost and materials around the community.
“Some people couldn’t believe we would willingly take their rubbish,” McLean said.
McLean and Wells said they would look to contribute the surplus to Nourish for Nil and other similar organisations to help feed families across Hawke’s Bay and in their immediate community.
“There’s a church down the road, a village around the corner and neighbours there,” Wells said.
Wells also highlighted that projects like this were great means for promoting “resilience and reliability”, with the recent events of Cyclone Gabrielle proving the importance of self-sufficiency but also community spirit.
Julie McLean in her already impressive backyard. Photo / Warren Buckland
The pair hopes to open the garden with a blessing and planting day in two to three weeks, but in the meantime, they’re spreading the word.
They hope it could act as an inspiration for similar projects.
“Even if you can’t create a whole garden, there are little things you could do that involve permaculture. You can do as little and as much as you want,” Wells said.
It is a significant undertaking. McLean said the project wouldn’t be possible without Wells, whose “enthusiasm should be bottled and sold”.
As the two green-thumbed legends continue their quest the community can look forward to a space where they can celebrate the love of gardening together.
“Come on Daisy, we’ve got work to do,” McLean said to her canine helper as the group went back to their mahi.
