garden
We grow flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables in our Eden Community Garden, a safe place for refreshment, sustainable practice, education and contemplation – a collaborative work.
Eden Garden, tucked behind South Sydney Uniting Church, has 16 garden plots, two worm farms, a water tank, and a chicken coop with 12 hens. The garden is home to a mature fig tree, banana plants and a feijoa.
Compost bins are listed on ShareWaste. This enables neighbours (garden members and others) to contribute suitable materials for composting.
The garden is managed by the Eden Garden working group, which appoints a voluntary community garden coordinator.
Coordinator
We currently do not have a community garden coordinator.
Contact – edencommunitywaterloo@gmail.com
Hints and Tips
Gardener Chris offers gardening tips and wisdom.
Introducing Chris
All the rage at the moment
Caring for citrus
All the money in gardening
Horticulture by correspondence
The value of worms
Bugs!
Transplant a mature tree
August – action time
Weekly working bees
History
Established in the 1980s, Eden Garden has a proud history of providing a safe space in the Redfern-Waterloo community. Inclusion and outreach activities have included the Luncheon Club (a support group for men with HIV/AIDS), run by Carole Ann King and ACON. Keith Ferguson and Dale Williamson gave many years of dedicated service to the garden.
Membership
Membership of the garden is independent of membership of the church. We value connection with neighbours, friends and “eco-warriors”, and partnership with other ecological and community groups. We acknowledge the support provided by City of Sydney Council through its Community Gardens program.
Members receive a key to the garden gate. Social Saturdays and working bees are held on a regular basis.
Please find the application form here.
Projects
The Eden Garden working group explores possible community projects and potential sources of funding. We are currently researching possibilities for a bush tucker garden, student placements, as well as children’s gardening and recycling activities.
Values and Practices
The garden is a green space where people can come and spend time, plant and tend their own vegetables or other plants, and also meet new people and develop stronger community connections.
Murals painted on the garden shed in 2004, including a distinctive Tree of Life design above the fishpond, reflect the values of the garden and feature the following texts:
“It is a radical act to garden …
We are afraid of being in deep relationship with each other …
the earth … God”
“To plant a seed and begin the process is an act of hope …
Anyone who plants a tree gains the reward of giving in charity …
What is eaten from it is charity …
What the animals eat and what the birds eat is all charity …
Anyone who takes from it earns for the planter the reward of giving in charity.”
Eden Garden is “a place of welcome, safety, acceptance, community, equity, creativity, celebration and continuity in a rapidly changing context” (SSUC, “Living Out Our Mission”, 2018, Priority 2). Values include care for the environment, participation of First Nations people and marginalised groups.
These values inform practices of sustainability, recycling and upcycling, advocacy, environmental education, and outreach.
The garden is home to worm farms and compost bins. Our compost bins are listed on ShareWaste. This enables neighbours (garden members and others) to contribute suitable materials for composting.
Working Bees
Working bees are held every Tuesday from 8am to 10am, and on the 3rd Saturday from 8am to 12pm. Members of the community garden and the congregation gather to maintain and care for the garden, to share gardening tips and get to know each other better. Various tasks are identified and undertaken by participants.
