Narrogin’s community garden still thriving after 10 years of growth

It has been 10 years since the first seeds were sown at the Gnarojin Community Garden — and its volunteers are still putting their green thumbs to use to keep the fresh-food hub alive today. The community garden has come a long way from its humble beginnings when it was home to the Narrogin Railway Bowling Club. The space has since been transformed into a lively courtyard of garden beds sprouting a variety of seasonal produce such as tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants and grapes. Volunteers have chipped away at renovating the old clubrooms into a members area where they can prepare fresh produce and enjoy a cup of tea. One of the garden’s main attractions is the farmers’ market held six times a year, where producers and growers from around the region converge to host a family-friendly community day. The volunteers also run a “Pick and Purchase” event every Saturday for residents to visit the gardens and fill up a basket with fresh fruit and vegetables for a small fee. “It helps raise money for us and it’s good that organically-grown food is going out into the community,” garden member Avril Baxter said. “A lot of what we do in the garden is trying to get people aware of what grows well in this climate. “What’s good about the seeds is that we know that they perform really well in our environment.” In past years, elderly residents and people living with a disability have visited the garden to learn in a supportive and accessible environment. To help maintain the grounds, volunteers run monthly busy-bee events to encourage the community to get their hands dirty. Ms Baxter said each of the volunteers brought a different skillset and knowledge base which had helped the space grow into what it is today. “I could garden by myself but by being a part of the community I can learn about what seeds works, when I should plant and all of that information,” she said. “In the country, every single household around here has enough space to grow all the food they need. “So the garden is more about being a community than a physical space to garden.” The volunteer-run organisation secured a grant worth more than $9000 last month through the State Government’s Community Gardens Grants Program to run a series of workshops. Garden member Ned Crossley said the grant would be used to run educational workshops about how to support native fauna in the garden. “We are going to run workshops on frogs, bats and native bees and how to look after them by creating friendly spaces for them in your garden,” he said. “We are also getting a defibrillator and some training on how to manage that and hopefully some first aid training as well.” Community Services Minister Simone McGurk said community gardening was a great way to bring people together while creating beautiful green spaces. “Everybody should have the opportunity to enjoy these green spaces and it’s positive that grants will also fund projects that improve disability access to community gardens,” she said. “Community gardens are an opportunity for people to come together by enabling them to make connections across generations and cultural backgrounds and develop new skills.”