We are proud to present this guest post from Gavin Pate of the Fallowfield Secret Garden, a great example of a community permaculture project that is developing.
A new ambitious community permaculture project
The Fallowfield Secret Garden is an ambitious community project aiming to create a green space in the heart of suburban South Manchester. This land has been made available by the housing authority City South, who continues to lend support. Credit is also due to Action for Sustainable Living, a fantastic charity who supported the project manager Mark Roberts immensely since the conception of the idea. Broadly, this community project is based on permacultural principles to guide our efforts and rediscover sustainable growing practices. This particular plot is experimental, with many hoping it will blaze a trail for similarly unused, overgrown and abandoned lands.
The work begins
The plan is now being delivered. We are ambitious and fast moving. In under a month we cleared the land (a mammoth task), built 18 large raised beds, a composting area and planted a shrub boarder. Next up; a shed, potting bench, pond, orchid, wild flower beds, a polytunnel, bee-hives, chicken sheds, seating areas, a BBQ, wormery, wood storage, treehouse, and medicinal herb garden. The setting will be picturesque and relaxing, and while gatherings and good times are a crucial component to a project’s sustainability, this is more than a community project.
The benefits
The plan is now being delivered. We are ambitious and fast moving. In under a month we cleared the land (a mammoth task), built 18 large raised beds, a composting area and planted a shrub border. Next up; a shed, potting bench, pond, orchard, wild flower beds, a polytunnel, bee-hives, chicken sheds, seating areas, the ‘learning curve’, a BBQ, wormery, wood storage, treehouse, and medicinal herb garden. The setting will be picturesque and relaxing, and while gatherings and good times are a crucial component to a project’s sustainability, this is more than a community project.
In providing food and other useful natural products, grown using permaculture principles, health through diet and exercise is promoted. Knowledge is also understood as the ever crucial element. Regular workshops and casual learning will keep residents sharp and help share know-how, while school visits will allow us to demonstrate the cycles in nature to children. By setting the scene for rebuilding our communities amongst nature, our influence is more purposeful. Encouraging people to grow their own and reconnecting with nature are both economically and spiritually empowering.
Connecting to nature
So how do you create connections with nature? This sounds hard, but really, the hard work has been done over millennia of evolution: the beauty in nature’s patterns and designs will become self evident. All we really need is a moment of clarity, to glimpse natural order and make sense of what is popularly misunderstood. People do not realise that in our best estimates, humans existed as we are today, nearly 200 000 years ago. Nature is still our spiritual homeland despite the recent emergence of industrial cities. By introducing a range of habitats and microclimates, wildlife will flourish to bring the scents, sights and sounds of nature closer to home.
Distribution
Taste is the critical element and the produce grown in the first season will be distributed freely to those who contributed and to those most in need: there is no profit motive here. We can and will demonstrate how food prices are dangerously connected to oil prices, and how genetic modification is unnecessary for fruitful yields given the correct practices. Eventually grant funding will run out, and high-value products such as handicrafts, honey and herb mixes will be sold locally to pay for upkeep.
Sustainability is community
But the central factor to the Secret Garden’s sustainability is community. There is no reason why everyone wouldn’t enjoy such a place, and enjoy it they must to ensure the common land is cared for and nurtured. This is why the breakdown of community is so dangerous, as common privileges demand common responsibilities. There are also more measureable advantages to look forward to, like dropping incidence of vandalism, as was experienced since the inception of Todmorden’s recently televised ‘Incredible Edible’ scheme.
Similar groups exist in Fallowfield already but with a different emphasis. They are however still focused on aesthetic and sustainability principles, and are active in shaping the area. By drawing these groups together at the right place, local residents have more influence on how Fallowfield is experienced.
Currently this experience is way out of our hands, and especially when it comes to food. Have you noticed that food is more expensive? It’s no secret increasing oil prices and a faltering economy is to blame. Growing-your-own makes more and more sense and the relevant skills are freely shared at the Fallowfield Secret Garden. And there is no better way to volunteer, it is more tangible than charity and we host free barbeques when we need numbers for work. Did that get your attention? Good, because committed volunteers and the homeless enjoy its harvest freely too.
Want to volunteer
To encourage success, we need to encourage volunteering because the more people who have a stake in the project, the better. If you’re local to Fallowfield, or like me, just incredibly excited at getting involved your contributions are highly welcome. The best way to get involved is to begin by emailing Mark: thefallowfieldsecretgarden@gmail.com
