Thanks to the vision of Gloucester’s Ken and Marnie Johnson, Gloucester has its very own community garden.
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The Gloucester Project launched in 2012 after securing access to six hectares of public land at 62 Cemetery Road, leased from NSW Crown Lands.
The project was named the Tucker Patch and was designed to provide a demonstration of how under-utilised land can be converted into high-value agricultural land.
Related story: Throwing like into the Tucker Patch
According to Tucker Patch Farmgate co-ordinator Sue Watts, Ken and Marnie had a vision that the land, which was then quite barren and unproductive, could be made to flourish and produce fruit and vegetables.
“It was probably one of the last pieces of land you would have chosen for such a project, but Ken and Marnie knew that by applying sustainable principles the land could become highly productive,” Sue said.
“Ken and Marnie’s vision has become a reality and, although there is still much to do, the land is producing beautiful, fresh vegetables which are sold locally.
“The vegetables are all grown according to organic principles,” Sue explained.
The vegetables are sold through a farmgate stall held at the Tucker patch every Friday from 10am until 1pm, or on Tuesdays, at a stall outside to community secondhand bookshop at the corner of Church and Boundary Streets.
Vegetables sold through the farmgate are a combination of produce grown in the beds at the Tucker Patch and on the private properties of the local growers.
“The Tuckerpatch is a great example of how fresh nutritious food can be produced locally and how unproductive land can be made to flourish,” Sue said.
Apart from growing vegetables the Tucker Patch also conducts workshops on topics such as seed growing, soil improvement, bottling preserves, vegetable garden construction and sustainable principles.
New growers are welcome, so if you would like to be involved by working some beds at the Tucker Patch or by growing from home, contact Sue Watts on 0438 346 544 or Pat Burrows on 0401 798 382.
“Visit the Tucker Patch and you will be amazed at how the land has been transformed and how productive it now is,” Sue said.
“If you come on Friday morning you will be able to pick up your in-season freshly picked vegetable supplies. Become a member and you will be kept informed about upcoming workshops and other activities.”
For more information visit www.tuckerpatch.weebly.com or check out the Facebook page.