Street Champions Jane & Sam.
Project: 'Share garden' and Grow Free Cart.
Suburb: Birkenhead, South Australia
Jane and Sam are Street Champions who started a ‘share garden’ on their verge and a ‘Grow Free Cart’.
They were keen to develop community within their street. They planted out their front verge with a “share garden” (anyone is welcome to pick produce or flowers). They also had a “difficult to recycle” cart in the front garden (light bulbs, batteries & small e-waste). Now they have a Grow Free Cart there too.
Through the Port Environment Centre they participated in the Growing Together Project. We approached all our neighbours and asked if they would like to have a mature tree(s) for their garden. Two said they would. We also facilitated the process for someone living in the next suburb. So 7 trees were planted as a result of our interest. Along with other people, we’ve also created a Greening Birkenhead Facebook page. It’s early days – we’re currently spreading the word and seeing who would like to be involved!
“We're interested in building connections with our neighbours and others in our community.”
Jane and Sam, what’s your best piece of advice for anyone embarking on an ‘In Our Street’ project?
“Try and connect with people on a face-to-face basis. We used letter templates to try and reach out to people, but found we were most successful when we had a chat in person. You don’t necessarily need to have a plan or project in mind, just reach out as neighbours/friends, then move on to a project later. Alternatively, the project can be a good icebreaker!
Greening Birkenhead is about encouraging locals to plant native/indigenous or edible plants in their gardens, or on the verge/nature strip. Planting on the verge requires council approval and following guidelines, but that process is very simple.”
What has this project meant to you?
“We’re interested in building connections with our neighbours and others in our community. Participating in this project has helped us work towards achieving that goal.”