St Bart’s residents and staff at our Swan Community Recovery Village have been working together to nurture a community garden for everyone to enjoy.
As shown in the photos below, the garden is thriving thanks to the dedication of our community at Swan who are working tirelessly to grow an array of fruits, vegetables and other plant life.
Residents use their weekly Garden Club meetings to decide what to plant, discuss gardening best practice and identify areas of the garden needing a bit of extra TLC.
The garden currently includes two raised garden beds that are growing two varieties of carrots, cucumber, watermelon, peas, beans, various lettuce, capsicum, spring onion, gooseberries, Brussel sprouts, corn and spinach. Elsewhere in the garden, tomatoes, capsicum, chilies and various ferns, bromeliads and an elk horn have also been planted. They are also now preparing to plant pumpkin, beets and some other spring vegetables.
Residents and other St Bart’s service consumers can wander around and tend to the garden in their own time and at their convenience throughout the week. Many will also hold their weekly session with their recovery worker in the garden, where they will complete their key work as part of their recovery journey.
The garden has come to be a place of relaxation for many residents who use the space to reflect by themselves and find positivity during times of challenge. It has also become a source of inspiration, with many residents and service consumers using the skills they have learnt to start their own gardens at their own units with great success.
The garden is also bringing people together to enjoy the (literal) fruits of their labour, with residents using the produce they have grown for monthly dinners for the St Bart’s Swan community to enjoy together. The monthly Street Dinners are facilitated and cooked by residents and service consumers who focus on creating menus that use fruits and vegetables grown in the community garden. Members of the wider St Bart’s Swan community are invited to dinner, where everyone enjoys a delicious meal and great company in an inclusive, supportive and engaging environment.
The Street Dinners are growing in popularity and the feedback has been positive from attendees who say they are finding connection in something they do not experience often and, for some service consumers, have never experienced before.
Congratulations to everyone at Swan CRV for this brilliant community endeavour!
St Bart’s acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land that we live and work on, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation. We are privileged to work with, and alongside, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and encourage those who are emerging as leaders.
St Bart’s is committed to diversity and inclusion in all its forms. We welcome and support the health and wellbeing of all people, regardless of background, age, ethnicity, religion and gender identity.