We had to find a name for the garden, so we named it Molly's Garden after Deb’s dog. The garden thrived. We organised an Open Day when the orchard was planted. Later we celebrated with soup and veggies cooked in the learning centre and shared by all. The garden became a great meeting place for anyone from the community until an unfortunate incident when one of the dogs strayed onto the oval and bit the school gardener on the leg. This brought about a reaction from the school to keep all dogs out, fences and padlocks on all the gates, and restrictions on water use. It felt like a complete lock out. We had to find another place for the garden. With a huge amount of hard work by Deslie Goudie and Councillor Jim Fitzpatrick working with the City of Charles Sturt, a space was found at the northern end on the Henley Oval, its present location where it is looking splendid and is enjoyed by many.
Molly’s Garden
Henley Community Garden Deslie Goudie
Originally, as discussed in the piece on Molly’s Garden, we occupied land on the Henley High School grounds, a garden which was started in 2003. This garden was set up for community members to garden alongside young people living with a disability. We cooperated with this younger cohort on garden tasks, aiming to encourage community activity and for all of us to learn about seasonal fruit and vegetables. However, the space in this garden was limited and we looked for a larger plot. WACRA’s president at that time, Jim Douglas, was also a member of the Henley High School Community Garden. A small group of four people who had been involved with the Henley High School Community Garden approached the City of Charles Sturt, who helped us find suitable land and write grant applications. By 2011 we had been allocated land, a large slice near the 98
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