New Growth at Hughes Park Community Garden
We are passionate about providing space for organic kitchen-gardening and nurturing our local pollinator networks
Are you a kitchen-garden green-thumb or want to be? Are you looking for physical community and a space to learn how grow your own organic fruit, herbs, or vegetables?
H
ughes Park Community Garden (HPCG) is memberrun and supported by Lane Cove Council as the only community garden in the Lane Cove Cammeraygal region to date. Located in Lane Cove West on Waterview Drive, HPCG is a fenced garden and shares the beautiful Hughes Park area with green picnic spaces, playground, exercise areas, community centre, and braille path, nestled between the medium-rise apartment blocks on the NorthWestern edges of Burns Bay. As hobby gardeners, at HPCG we are passionate about providing space for organic kitchen-gardening and nurturing our local pollinator networks. Our membership come from diverse backgrounds and demographics, all are welcome. Time in the garden is an opportunity to learn from the experience of fellow gardeners, provides a place to connect with the seasonality of local flora and fauna, and we almost always take home seasonal organically grown produce after working in the garden. As a newer development in the Lane Cove area, the community garden space was established by an independent not-for-profit organisation when the Hughes Park section of the Waterview Drive development was completed around seven years ago. Following the end of their five-year lease, the garden was handed back to Lane Cove Council, prompting the gardeners to apply to the council to continue the garden, and establish as our own not-for-profit: Hughes Park Community Garden. The garden membership is reviving after an extended dormant period during the COVID-19 lockdowns of the last two years. Especially given the prolific rainy season over the 20 TVO
last year, there is much work to be done in the garden. Apart from general maintenance, we have many exciting plans for the HPCG such as increasing accessibility of the garden facilities, such as wheel-chair friendly paths, and re-installing a native (stingless) Sugarbag bee colony. Our annual membership fee is $75 and requires monthly physical contributions to maintain the garden as well as assisting with the running of the organisation. If you are interested in joining us, we would love to hear from you via email, and invite interested gardeners to join us for a site-induction during our working-bees- an opportunity to work together to maintain the garden, as well as chat about all things garden-related over a cuppa. Though we are not yet a registered charity, as a not-forprofit organisation we welcome sponsorship, donations, and volunteers to help our community garden to flourish. Our working-bees are from 9am in HPCG on the first Sunday of the month, email us at lanecovecommunitygarden@ gmail.com For more information about our events and exploits please ‘like’ us on social media at https://www.facebook. com/LaneCoveCommunityGarden/ and https://www. instagram.com/lanecovecommunitygarden/ HPCG is also excited to be part of the Edible Garden Trail running March 26-27, with tickets and information available here: https://sydneyediblegardentrail.com/gardens/ Drafted by An Marosszeky (HPCG, Management Committee Secretary) in consultation with HPCG Members.
