community gardens

Until I was about 10 years old, I lived in a little cottage at North Avalon, and used to walk to primary school through the sandhills, along the beach, then to  school, and back. It sometimes took longer than it should have, as there was simply so much to see and do.

Those with children who have been to a farm nursery will understand the joy, the wonder of it to those kids, yet, this is not a normal part of our landscape, as it was just a very few years ago. This connection to the world around us has been replaced by apartment blocks, video games, and concern about the safety, both physical and emotional, of our kids.

Somewhere along the line we have lost something, real engagement with the natural world has been lost, replaced by coverage by David Attenborough.

Imagine the urban  landscape that included again, those opportunities for the production of a bit of food for the family, and neighbours, how much reconnection might occur?.

Man is a social animal, and at some level we all understand that the most powerful motivator is recognition, not money, so social collaboration when enabled and recognised can change the world.

Look at what had happened with the town of Todmorden in Yorkshire, England, the productive gardens in our own backyard, have the potential to again be social glue, a force for the benefit of us all.

Problem is, the short term, financially driven mind set that dictates the usage if land around out cities, as well as in them mitigates against this opportunity to once again create the enablers of the production of social glue, and our children and grandchildren will be the worse for it.