Getting the veggie garden out in public

Why shouldn’t our public spaces be productive?
KayVee.INC/flickr

This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.

Food. It is the great unifier of place and race, the common ground sustaining our very existence. Why then, does food production feature so minimally in public space and urban design?Under the weight of looming threats to energy, population and economy, the time is ripe to rethink our design focus.

Landshare in Australia: Connecting home-growers with those who have land to share

In 2009, Landshare emerged from UK TV series River Cottage. Described by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (the guy behind the programs and Landshare) as a "UK wide initiative to make British land more productive and fresh local produce more accessible to all".

Along with Capital Growth, (a campaign to create 2,012 new food growing spaces in London by the end of 2012) Landshare is one of the most exciting efforts to facilitate UK community agriculture at a time of massively over-subscribed allotment waiting lists and people being keener than ever to grow their own food.

Over the last 3 years, Landshare in the UK has since grown into a thriving community, now 62,000 strong. In March this year, Landshare Australia kicked off and so far it boasts just over 1000 members.

Soil turned on first of FIVE new community gardens for Hume (Melbourne)

Some very exciting community garden news for the Hume area.

On 10th June, soil was turned and construction started on the first of five community gardens being built over the coming months. The first garden (Homestead Community Garden) is being built at Roxburgh Park. 

Earthbag Building At South Melbourne Commons

** FREE SKILL - SHARING EVENT - EARTHBAG BUILDING **

The South Melbourne Commons Food Garden team invites you to take part in our skill-sharing event on rammed earth building with earthbags. 

Dates:

• Sunday 26th June 2011, 10am – 4pm
• Sunday 10th July, 2011, 10am – 4pm

You can come on either or both days!

Location: South Melbourne Commons - Corner of Bank & Montague St, South Melbourne

Inner North Urban Harvest (Coburg) Food Swap this Saturday 10am-1pm

3rd Saturday of the month
10am-12pm,
Website
Location: McCleery Reserve, Munro St Coburg
Contacts:
Emma Keogh: ekeogh21"at"hotmail.com
Alicia Hooper: aliciahooper"at"hotmail.com

PepperTree Place: Volunteer Compost Coordinator

Want to practice your composting skills on a grand scale?

Interested in helping us turn our greenwaste into valuable garden goodness?

Passionate about contributing to an emerging community green-space?

In need of a share of the produce from our kitchen garden?

PepperTree Place Food Swap and World Environment Day Celebration

Come and celebrate World Environment Day and enjoy the fruits of this Autumn’s harvest.

It is the season for oranges and olives, persimmons and ppp...lemons so come and share some garden goodies with local growers like yourself.