Growing something to be proud of

A community garden in the heart of Young is becoming more than a place to grow vegetables. For the boys involved with Boys to the Bush Young, it is becoming a place to learn practical skills, grow food, prepare meals, give back to the community and create something they can be proud to say they helped build. Boys to the Bush has been developing the Young Community Garden beside the Uniting Church, on the corner of Cloete and Lynch streets, with participants involved in almost every stage of bringing the space back to life. The organisation provides boys with mentoring, practical experiences and community involvement designed to build confidence, resilience and a sense of belonging. Young Location Manager Dean Bedford said the garden was giving them something tangible they could help create and, importantly, come back to and feel proud of. “They might go past and think, ‘I helped do that’,” he said. The boys have helped build garden beds, install irrigation, construct timber tables and seating and restore furniture already at the church. They have also painted a large artwork at the back of the garden, based on a Boys to the Bush design representing a young boy growing into a young man, the paths he chooses and the tracks he leaves behind. Mr Bedford said the emphasis was not on getting everything perfect, but encouraging the boys to have a go and learn along the way. That hands-on approach extends to cooking, gardening, woodworking, volunteering and other everyday skills. As the garden begins producing food, Mr Bedford hopes those skills will come together. The boys already take part in cooking activities at the Boys to the Bush shed, and the plan is to eventually use produce they have helped grow. He wants them to walk through the garden, see what is ready and begin thinking about how they could use it. “Right mate, let’s make a salad,” he said, describing the kind of conversation he hopes the garden will spark. It is a simple way to encourage healthier eating while teaching them how to grow food, prepare it and make choices about what they eat. For the wider community, Mr Bedford pictures people bringing their lunch, sitting under the shade and picking a tomato for a sandwich, families spending time there and residents helping themselves to spinach, cucumbers or other produce when it is ready. Surplus produce may also be shared with local food relief services. Mr Bedford is reluctant to fence the garden off, saying its success will come from people feeling that it belongs to them. “I think if it’s open and there’s more people there, the right thing will get done,” he said. Giving back is also an important part of the Boys to the Bush approach. While local businesses and organisations have supported the garden through donations of money, materials, garden beds, plants and expertise, the boys also contribute to organisations that support them. They have assembled barbecues and displays for Bunnings, maintained community spaces and collected bottles and cans to raise money for Can Assist. “We’re not here just to take,” Mr Bedford said. “We want to give back as well.” The next chapter for the garden will begin with a community open afternoon on Friday, October 9, from 5pm to 7pm. The event will invite the community to see what the boys have created, enjoy the space and, if they wish, bring along a plant to help it continue growing. For the boys who helped build it, Mr Bedford hopes the garden leaves something deeper than vegetables. It is somewhere they can learn, contribute and belong — and one day walk past and know part of it is there because of them.