Episode 47: Community Garden Creates Connections

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EPISODE 45: Community Garden Creates Connection 

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0:00:00:00

Carers Qld voiceover

Choice and Control is a podcast celebrating meaningful inclusion of people with disability in our communities, brought to you by Carers Queensland, your NDIS Local area coordination partner in the community. Each episode provides a conversation space for people with disability, their families and carers, to share their stories with you. We also hear from members of the wider community, local businesses and community leaders who share information, ideas and possibilities to give you more opportunity and more choice and control in life.

Well spring has sprung and here at Carers Qld we recognise the wonderful opportunities that Community gardens can offer people with disability. Whether it’s meeting like-minded people, participating in social activities, or building practical gardening skills, Carers Qld is working with Community Garden representatives to increase their understanding of inclusion.

In this episode we hear from two local gardeners from Beelarung Community Farm – in Morningside, Brisbane.

00:01:13:21

Tracy (interviewer)

Well I’m here on a beautiful sunny day at Beelarung Community Farm and I have Rosemary with me…

00:01:20:21

Rosemary

Hello. Good morning. Thank you. Oh, it's afternoon.

00:01:24:00

Tracy

Thank you for joining me today.

00:01:26:21

Rosemary

Thank you.

00:01:27:11

Tracy

Rosemary. How long have you been coming to this garden?

00:01:30:08

Rosemary

I think it's coming up to three years now. Good. Three years. And it's been amazing.

00:01:37:12

Tracy

What do you enjoy about coming here?

00:01:40:12

Rosemary

Well, for me, it's the community that I have created here. The friends that I've made. And just coming in, being able to be in… I call this my happy place. And it's green. There's animals around us. The chickens. The birds. It's just a lovely place. And I can bring my dog down on the weekend and things, you know, and just come and hang out. It sounds weird, but. Yeah, just come here to hang out.

00:02:18:07

Tracy

What has the garden done for you to make it more accessible?

00:02:23:07

Rosemary

Well, a lot of the participants in the garden are of the older age group people, so a lot of the infrastructure already caters for the less mobile people. So essentially, I've just sort of fitted fit in, you know. So the ramps, the things up to the toilet. I have a raised garden bed.  I fit it in to them and it's been great.

00:02:56:07

Tracy

You talk there about the physical changes to the garden, but you also said that you feel really socially included.

00:03:04:05

Rosemary

Absolutely. Absolutely. I've made friends here. I've made friends that I see outside of the farm time and that's been really lovely.  So I've met another person who's got similar mobility issues. She's got a different condition to me, but and we've both got the love of art, a love of chickens, a love of dogs. So we've just really fallen in together as friends. And that's been really amazing, having my condition and then suddenly finding out that I can't do my job, I can't do this, I can't drive, I can't get my world really turned upside down. So of course, there was a couple of years of the grieving of the loss of my life, and I thought that I just needed to build and create a life with things that I can do. So coming to the farm has really allowed me to focus on the things that I can do. So with the farm, I help with the seed saving, which has come just… and some people might find that really frustrating and hard because it's a bit pedantic and small and fine motor skills and that. But I actually find that really very comforting for me because I can sit, I can do it and I'm participating, I'm doing something good for the farming community of the farm.

00:04:50:05

Tracy

Now you make an amazing contribution to the sales of the farm. (I do, I do.) Tell us about that…

00:04:56:06

Rosemary

So I have sort of stuck my toe into making some chutney and I've just started making some jam as well. And I've explored the possibility of doing the no Sugar jams. So diabetic friendly and I haven't quite got the recipe for the diabetic jam perfected yet, but we're working on that and I've got all figs frozen in the in my freezer ready to go. The mango chilli chutney that we make, that is really popular. Oh, my goodness. The jars are sold even before they get into the shed; I've come out of the car and people were grabbing jars out of my box before I take them to the shed. It’s really popular?

00:06:01:00

Tracy

How does it make you feel knowing that your work is so in demand?

00:06:06:00

Rosemary

Oh, it's great. It's really, a really good feeling to know that I'm contributing and that what I'm contributing is valued by people.  And that's nice. You know, we all need to be needed in some way. And my way is less, is more limited than what was before my injury, but I'm still contributing. So that gives me a really nice feeling.

00:06:39:00

Tracy

When we were in the meeting before, they talked a lot about seasonal produce and there seems to be a big focus on what's in season and how to make the most out of that. Is that the case?

00:06:49:20

Rosemary

Well, the people on the farm are just a wealth information. And it's almost like Google in live action, you know, it's fantastic. So when I need information about something, there's somebody here that knows something about it. So that's been really lovely and amazing. So coming here to my happy place has really filled up that part of that love of just being around gardens.

00:07:24:00

Tracy

Your love of being around gardens…. Tell me what you've got growing in your garden.

00:07:29:00

Rosemary

Oh, broccoli, broccolini. We've got snow peas, we've got tomatoes, we've got spinach. Um. Oh, chilli. Oh, my goodness, the chilli plant is prolific. We've got… oh and capsicum that came up. Oh, yeah. We've got a few little chives coming in there at the moment, and I've done a few flowers as well. I've done sunflower, some marigolds.  We've got calendula growing… that’s what's in flower at the moment is the calendula… those bright yellow flowers.

00:07:24:00

Tracy

Yeah we are in the community garden here folks. So we've got a lot of background noise going on which is what you would expect. It's a hive of activity here, Rosemary…

00:08:32:20

Rosemary

Absolutely. And that's I mean… certainly when you have a disability your world becomes very small… it becomes appointments, appointments and then appointments again. So you don't have time or the ability to visit friends and things and they sort of drop off because they've got their own world going on. So this has allowed me to do an activity that I love and make friendships at the same time. And that's been amazing. It's been really lovely.

00:09:09:22

Carers Queensland Announcement

Our School to Adult Life Transition Project aims to identify positive pathways for young people with disability as they move from school to adult life. To help us better design our programs for young adults and their families, Carers Queensland is proud to work with our new reference group of young adults from different regional areas who have finished school and are exercising choice and control at home, study, work and in their communities. The Amplifying Young Voices Reference group will share vital knowledge gained from lived experience to inform ideas for supporting young people who are still at high school, to overcome barriers and feel empowered to plan for their adult life. To find out more, get in touch, or look for events and opportunities coming up near you.  Visit our website at www.carersqld.com.au  or call our inquiries line on 1300 999636.

00:10:10:23

Tracy

In your week, is the garden one of your highlights?

00:10:14:23

Rosemary

Absolutely. It's my Wednesday. It's my Wednesday booking. I do it every week and I don't book appointments. I don't book things in on Wednesday because I've got the farm. Things have to work around the farm, sometimes twice a week. Yeah. So I come on a Friday as well often either just for watering, but I also do the fruit fly counting here. So they've got 12 fruit fly traps here and every two weeks I have to collect them all, empty them out and count the fruit flies, which obviously people might think is crazy. But you know, during winter there can be up to zero fruit flies and in summer it can be up to 70 to 100 fruit flies in one trap when they start seeing the fruit fly.

00:11:10:14

Tracy

When do you start seeing the fruit fly?

00:11:13:22

Rosemary

Oh, they're starting to build up now. So in August. So the numbers are starting to come up now.

00:11:19:00

Tracy

What advice would you have to other gardens around who might be looking at wanting more diversity? What advice would you have to them?

00:11:30:15

Rosemary

Well, I guess the fact that the infrastructure here at Beelarung does cater really well for me, for people with disabilities or mobility issues. So the raised garden beds, the pathways here are pretty flat and easy and accessible, the plots, even the on the ground have got access paths to it, which is really good. I mean, I don't use that, I use the raised garden beds.    Just being open, I think, open to it and just taking that time… like here because I've got a hearing loss. I do let people know first up that I have a hearing disability. And so I need the lip reading and the face to face sort of stuff.  And often I miss, sort of within the big discussion meetings. I miss things but they do stop and sort of re say things for me. Just take just taking the time.

00:12:49:14

Tracy

Rose this is a pretty unique garden in that they have so many social events and opportunities as well.

00:13:25:24

Rosemary

They do. They do. So we have a pizza oven here at the garden. So about once every three months or so, we have a pizza night here. So they provide the dough and you just bring your own toppings.  And quite often just before the pizza night, I'm just down in my plot picking out the herbs and the thyme and the basil and the different things to add to the pizza.  So then you’re eating what you produce and people on the preparing of the pizza table, they're all they've all got their contribution and you share and you try things out and things that you haven't tried before. Yeah, that's been really interesting. Different fruits or different vegetables that someone's grown.  Um, yeah, I've made many friends here.

00:13:57:16

Tracy

And you've learned a lot too, because there's a lot of unusual varieties growing here and a few experiments, even.

00:14:05:16

Rosemary

Exactly. Exactly. You know, there’s the seedlings and stuff, their giveaways. And so you try something out, even if it works, if it doesn't, you know, gardening is a bit of an experiment.

00:14:23:16

Tracy

So there's lots of different layers of involvement, isn't there?

00:14:28:16

Rosemary

That's right. Yeah. So when you first come, you may not necessarily get a plot straight away. It can take a few months of you  coming along and building that relationship with them. It took me four months to get a plot, but, you know, it was all about just building those friendships and relationships with people and contributing can you do… certainly with the seed saving it was a lot of sitting down, though that suits me.  Fruit fly counting, that's sitting down. So that suits me as well. And I was helping out in the seedling shed there for a little while too. That was really great because again, growing seeds is something I can do. So I was doing that myself on my balcony at home. So I transposed that to here as well.

00:15:30:02

Tracy

Focusing on what you can do in those strengths space is so important, isn't it?

00:15:34:18

Rosemary

I think so, and I think that's what you have to do, particularly with a disability that comes on you later in life. It's such a shock and you forget what you can't do as you're focusing on what you can do. And I think that's really important.

00:15:57:12

Tracy

Can I ask, how old were you?

00:15:58:18

Rosemary

I was 47 when the acquired brain injury happened.

00:16:04:20

Tracy

Okay. And how long ago was that?

00:16:06:18

Rosemary

I'm 52 now.  (so not that long ago) No. Only in the last five years. So it was very weird. And I mean, my life before was very full. Was a firefighter by trade. I was a yoga teacher. I was a runner. It was multi-day trekking, bushwalking type person. So my life was very active and the loss has been huge. I've actually not sat down and done list of my losses because I think that might be too hard. But yeah, I just focus on what I can do.

00:16:52:01

Tracy

Focus on your strengths. (Yeah. Yeah)  Coming to the garden. Being in the garden. It just seems to have given you so much?

00:17:01:18

Rosemary

It really has… those interactions that I have with my friends that then are going through a bad time or having an off day. And there's understanding for them, you know, understand, you know, that that they will repay that again because they when you're having a bad day, they understand also what it's like when you're having a bad day and my brain is not working. I can't make it. I can't do it. All I can do is water today, I can't do all the other stuff. So that's what I do. I just come here and water, feeds the chooks. The girls are always happy to see you. Oh, you’re that strange lady with that food. I like you.

00:17:56:01

Tracy

Well, I better let you get back to it Rosemary. Are you going to do some gardening now?

00:17:57:18

Rosemary

I am. I am. I'm just going to potter around in the garden. Do some watering.

00:18:02:07

Tracy

Thanks so much for talking to me today, Rosemary.

00:18:04:10

Rosemary

It's been lovely. Tracy. Thank you.

00:18:07:06

Carers Queensland Announcement

Carers. Queensland is growing inclusion, awareness and opportunities for people with disability and where better to grow things than the garden? We're working with community gardens to improve accessibility and make sure people of all abilities can get their hands dirty. We're starting conversations about what the community wants and needs and how we can work together to give everyone the place to put down roots and bloom. Find out more. Get in touch or look for events and opportunities coming up near you. Visit our website at www.carerqld.com.au   Or call our inquiries line on 1300 999636.

00:18:52:07

Tracy

I'm here today with Nathan, who comes to the community garden. Nathan, can you tell us what you do here for the garden?

00:18:59:07

Nathan

So I do my own experimental compost, so I'm working with three bays of compost. I'm bringing in different waste products to see what I can make.

00:19:14:07

Tracy

And how did you first hear about Beelarung and getting involved?

00:19:18:07

Nathan

Oh I’ve known about it for ages because I live in Morningside. Yeah it’s about a four minute drive. But yeah, never really contacted the them until I decided I wanted to do an experiment because I've run out of space at home obviously, gardens taken over the whole house. But yeah, so composting, now I've got a plot, so I planted somesunflowers and yeah, it's just a really good community because when you're here on a Wednesday, everyone's here and they all friendly and talk to you. And even when I come on the days other people are here watering also. So there's always people here.

00:19:56:00

Tracy

Do you like that social side of things?

00:19:59:00

Nathan

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. It's good.

00:20:02:02

Tracy

What are you hoping to achieve here with your compost?

00:20:07:00

Nathan

Well, me and my friend want to start a compost business. If he buys some land… the veggie scraps from Rocklea Markets are huge. We just get pile after pile of scraps and then turn that into soil that we can sell.

00:20:28:02

Tracy

It sounds like a great idea. How's it going?

00:20:31:00

Nathan

Yeah, well, I've got to wait for his brothers to come up in August, and then he's going to talk to them, cause we have to buy the land first.  It’s just a process.

00:20:41:07

Tracy

So Nathan how old are you?   (33) You’re 33.   And so can you tell us a little bit about your story?

00:20:49:08

Nathan

Well I’ve always had mental health, but I didn't get diagnosed till I was 21 because it was too high functioning. Like, well, it just got too high grades at school. So the teachers never sent me anywhere. But then I was just all over the place after having such a schedule at school to go in to no schedule after school, it took me a while to get together and then get some help from the government and NDIS funding and everything.

00:21:25:07

Tracy

How has the NDIS helped you?

00:20:49:08

Nathan

Oh, it's just got me more active and out. And it got me a job.  It's given me skills and yeah, I, I don't normally come to places like this by myself, so having a support worker and just with the technical stuff, sometimes you get a bit frustrated at building things. He’s better at helping me build. I do the garden at the coffee shop to get free coffee. Um, so everyone knows me at the coffee shop. So my local area. So I dunno, just constantly doing bits and pieces. Good to keep busy for your mental health.

00:22:08:07

Tracy

Yeah, well, good luck with your gardening business idea. It sounds fantastic. (Yeah.)  Thanks for talking to me today Nathan.

00:22:15:08

Nathan

That’s alright.

00:22:16:17

Carers Queensland Announcement

LAC Connect. It's a new way to stay in touch with your local area coordinator, Carers Queensland, with everything you need right here on your device. It's a handy app to keep track of your LAC appointments, browse workshops and events, check out information and support and get the latest news stories and podcasts. It's available on Android and iOS, so whatever device you have, you can stay in touch. Head to our website to sign up at www.carersqld.com.au  and look for LAC Connect.

00:22:50:08

Tracy

So I'm here with Matthew, Nathan’s support worker. Matthew, thank you for having a chat.

00:22:52:08

Matthew

It’s all good.

00:22:5:00

Tracy

Matthew, tell me about your role and how you help Nathan here in the Community garden.

00:23:00:08

Matthew

So my role with my relationship with Nathan is I'm his support worker, I’m his carer.  And so we've just been basically helping around the community garden. He's basically working on compost right now. We've got a project where we're putting a sifter together in. This is Nathan's go to, you know, out of all the places that he could be this is the place that he, you know, desires to be, you know. Just his emotions when he's around here. He's just basically in the zone. Like, he's more interested being here than anywhere else. So it's good because he's giving me some knowledge and he's giving me some interest as well. I mean, I want to be able to grow something in the backyard. If you get if you have a look at Nathan's backyard, he has every single vegetable that you can imagine, that you can see in Woolworths, and it’s right down his backyard. Yeah.

00:23:58:08

Tracy

So what have you learned from Nathan about gardening?

00:24:01:00

Matthew

Just composting in general. With him, he's been experimenting, putting coffee, growing in his compost. I didn't know you had to sift the compost in general. And so we, you know, you get obviously see here is because if they're going on and, you know, he's trying to you know… he's got his plot here as well and he's sort of teaching me how to take weeds out… I didn't know you have to take me to know this stuff. So, yeah, he's giving me a lot of wisdom here.

00:24:32:00

Tracy

You're a graduate nurse and now a support worker. (Yep). How good are community gardens for people with disabilities?

00:24:40:00

Matthew

Oh, 100% like it's got me interested. It's like, you know, I've been stressed out. You know, you get to your normal, everyday life, and I look forward to coming here because of the stuff that we do here. Like it's therapeutic. I mean you're in touch with nature. You know, you get to see your work, you know, progressively get better and better. You get to see something grow from your own hands and mate if I could encourage the world to do this, do it. But it's like, you know, you've got great people around you as well. And we sort of have been with some helping hands where they need it. And like it was just generally good people here. 100% is the most therapeutic time of my week when I get to gets my hands dirty in the community garden place.

00:25:34:00

Tracy

Thanks for chatting with me today.

00:25:35:00

Matthew

No worries.

00:25:38:14

Carers Queensland Announcement

Thanks for joining us. Choice and Control, a Carers Queensland Podcast. If you've enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to leave a rating and review and share it with your community.  If you'd like to know more about our Community Gardens project, the National Disability Insurance Scheme or Carers Queensland, contact us online at www.carersqld.com.au or call us on 1300 999636 or head to Facebook and look for Carers Queensland NDIS.