As we wrap up our fifth Home Harvest edible garden trail, it’s always good to pause and take a moment to reflect on the greatness that just was. Cause it was really great. I’ve organised countless community events and projects over the decades and I reckon this is one of the most successful. Why? Good question….
People. Turn. Up: When events book as quickly as this one does it’s direct and undeniable feedback that you’re helping to meet a strong community need. In this case people wanna see urban back/front yards growing edible produce and they wanna learn how they could do something similar for their own context. People are hungry for both nutritious veggies/fruit and also for the knowledge on how they can have a crack themselves.
Connection: When you get gardeners into the same garden, good things happen. Connections are made, phone numbers exchanged, gardening tips shared – this is community being built in real time.
Tackling the hard stuff with the good stuff: While we’re talking about edible gardening and all the fun that comes along with it. We’re also addressing some of the biggest challenges on of our times – specifically the climate emergency and our vulnerable food system that relies on food being transported around the country and world in order for the supermarket shelves be filled. The more we can relocalise food production with nearby farms and backyards, the more resilient we are in the face of the increasing disasters we’re told to expect from climate scientists. But instead of dwelling on the problem, projects like Home Harvest focus on the solutions – a million times more positive and fulfilling for people to engage with.
This year we had 16 edible gardens of all shapes and sizes open their gates for the public to come through and over 2200 tickets booked for this free event. Special shout out to the City of Hobart who have funded Home Harvest since it started and to Sustainable Living Tasmania and Eat Well Tasmania for collaborating.
Having a local Council that supports these types of projects is everything. If we’re to shape a good life for everyone, then we need to collaborate and work together at every opportunity. Home Harvest is an effective and fun (!) way of doing just that towards a food and climate resilient and connected life for all.
Garden Tours live streamed!
As a special bonus we now live stream some of the gardens, so anyone anywhere can get inspired! We filmed four of the gardens on our Facebook page – simply click on the links below to access them.
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