The gardeners of the Sans Souci Veggie Patch are celebrating five years of community growth.
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During this time the Veggie Patch has brought together people of all ages and backgrounds to share in the love of gardening.
Located in Bona Park between Sandringham Street and Ritchie Streets, the Veggie Patch was founded in 2019 by local Sans Souci mum, Andrea Jackson.
Since then it has grown from six garden beds eight community beds and 22 private allotments with members paying $25 per year for general membership and $25 per metre-square for exclusive garden beds that they can tend themselves.
The age of people visiting the garden range from three-years to 80 with the majority aged over 50.
"Our senior members experience reduced feelings of social isolation, feel connected to community, participate in gentle exercise, enjoy the benefits of being active and outdoors and experience improvements to their mental health and well-being," Andrea said.
"The gardens were an essential community connection in the aftermath of COVID and during lockdowns. Ultimately our hope is that these factors will improve quality of life, aid longevity, bring otherwise separate groups of locals together and create friendship and connection," she said.
"The gardens attract culturally and linguistically diverse members which fosters respect, celebrates multiculturalism, kindles friendships and allows members to be themselves.
"They are proud to share similarities and differences in their cultures as well as family recipes and gardening tricks. They also can speak to one another in one of eight shared languages.
"The thing I'm probably most proud of is how inclusive and welcoming we are as a group. I have learned so much from the other members and many of them I wouldn't have crossed paths with at all if it weren't for the gardens!" Andrea said.
"I work from home but I can visit the gardens on my lunch break. There's a whole living, breathing ecosystem down there that is amazing to dip into, even for half an hour. The frogs, herons, bees, kookaburras and willy-wagtails all come and say hi while I water my plants," she said.
"I take my three-year-old to the gardens and he loves it. We teach him about where food comes from and he waters the plants, helps with mulching and eats the raspberries.
"I can visit the garden at any time of the week and there will usually be a couple of people I know, pottering around and happy to chat and catch up.
"There are a great many benefits to joining a community garden. Beyond chatting at bi-monthly working bees, members make long-lasting friendships," she said.
Jenny Pelizar who recently retired, has made several close friends through the gardens and has even helped a fellow gardener, driving them to attend a doctor's appointment at short notice.
The Sans Souci Veggie Patch has celebrated its first five years of operations by receiving grants from Bayside Council and Sydney Water.
The grants will go to building eight new garden beds, making the garden more accessible to older members of the community and to those with a disability.
The Sydney Water grant has helped the garden by installing new beds that are 'wicking' which means that they are watered from underneath, which greatly reduces water usage due to reduced evaporation.
Members attend working bees twice a month on the second Saturday of the month at 2pm and the fourth Sunday of the month at 9am.
Anyone interested in getting involved should email sanssouciveggiepatch@gmail.com for details.
