Cambridge's community garden keeps growing with second location

Originally, the Pop Up Edible Garden Project was initiated to help the community recover from Covid-19. Photo / Supplied

Since Cambridge's popular community pop-up edible garden's first seeds were planted in Thompson St, it has been extended at that site and has now spread to Froud Reserve.

Waipā District Council's Cambridge Community Board member Elise Badger is the driving force behind the project and says that since the start of the garden's trial in October, the project has received great feedback.

"We will be planting the new gardens with dedicated themes to help cultivate growth, with herbs, leafy greens and winter crops planted separately. Our community should be able to enjoy this new harvest in a few months' time, which we'll announce on our Facebook page as we have for previous crops."

The new Froude Reserve garden will be under the guardianship of early childhood centre Little Sparrows Educare in Leamington, additional to the current collective of community volunteers who oversee the existing gardens.

The Cambridge pop-up edible garden project has just been extended to a second location. Photo / Supplied

Little Sparrows spokeswoman Caroline Barns-Graham said the new garden would provide a fantastic educational opportunity for their tamariki.

"We are all very excited about this joint venture, I know that both the Educare and preschool will thoroughly enjoy learning about planting cycles, insect life and all the other treasures Papatūānuku offers," she says.

Last Sunday, Waipa residents together with the Reserves and Landscape Working Group of Cambridge, supported by Amber Garden Centre and the Cambridge Community Board and Waipā District Council, planted eight new vege patches. Now it is time to be patient and wait until it is time to harvest.

The Pop Up Edible Garden Project was initiated to help the community recover from Covid-19, as gardens are proven to improve mental wellbeing, community interaction and access to fresh produce.

To learn more about the project and keep up-to-date with harvest times, click here.