Lindy King is helping to maintain a wonderful community garden on the piece of land next to her home. Her sister Tammy suggested that a garden would turn that land into a nice peaceful place.

Lindy: ‘In the centre, there’s a plan to put an oval-shaped flower garden, the shape of an emu egg, with a table and chairs in the middle. Then anyone can come and just sit there and have a quiet moment, get rid of stress.’

Tammy: ‘Travellers could sit there too; old people or families travelling, who need a rest.’

Lindy: ‘I’ve always been a gardener and I’ve been doing an on-line gardening course with the Community Greening (a part of Botanical Gardens in Sydney) for almost 5 years. Paddie Lane comes out from there twice a year to help us with the garden and she goes to the Central School too, to help them with their Ag Plot. And to the Mission School. Anyone can feel free to bring their vegetable scraps along to put in the compost for the garden.

‘We’re growing pumpkins, sweet potatoes, beetroot, onions, tomatoes, spinach, cabbage and lettuce and a lot of different flowers. We’ve planted fruit trees too: a mango tree, mandarin tree, lemonade tree, peach, nectarine, quince and 3 apple trees. We want to share out what we’re growing, and if there’s a market we could sell fruit and vegetables there and use the funds to buy more plants.

‘We’re planning on doing a mini-forest too, at the back of the garden. We’ll plant a lot of trees close together, like in a native forest where seeds drop and more trees just naturally grow close together.’

Tammy: ‘The peaceful spirits of our Ancestors and all our people who’ve passed away wander along the river and around the garden, and their spirits are making it a peaceful place.’

Lindy: ‘I’m glad this course came up because I’ve learnt a lot, like how to grow things on the grey soil! Watch this space!’

This article appeared in Wilcannia News, 27 May 2025.