JERRY: During the pandemic lockdowns,
many of us were surprised to see empty shelves in supermarkets
and supply shortages.
Rather than rushing out and hoarding toilet paper,
a group of young people saw this as an opportunity
to provide for the vulnerable in their community
and for a rethink in how public space is used.
Around that time, there was an overwhelming sense of despair
within the community.
And I think what we decided to do
was to try and create something that would give people hope.
Ruby Thorburn has lived in
Brisbane's riverside suburb of West End for three years.
During the pandemic, she shared her concerns with friend Al Wicks.
And we've always had, like, a dream
of trying to create, like, change within our community
and, you know, give back to our community.
So, at the start of the pandemic
we were really worried about how, you know,
the global pandemic was gonna impact upon local food systems.
In March 2020, Al and Ruby teamed up to convert thought into action.
They formed Growing Forward,
a community organisation dedicated
to setting up guerrilla gardens
in under-utilised public space.
So we've got our passionfruit vine, Jerry.
Oh, yeah. It's got some fruits going there.
And also our beautiful paw paw tree as well.
That's looking great.
You've got yacons too. We've got yacons.
You eat the root, so it's like a sweet potato kinda thing.
Lovely. And we've got our sweet potato vine.
It grows like a weed, it's so good,
and you can eat the leaves, which is great.
We've got our chillies down here.
And our beautiful cosmos,
which is so good for the bees.
And stacks of pumpkin! Yeah!
We've got a little pumpkin growing here as well, which is great to see.
Oh, how gorgeous. Yeah.
And more chillies just over here.
And also our okra.
This is gorgeous. Yeah.
So, this is probably, like, one of our bigger ones.
You can see it's, like, flowering as well, which is really beautiful.
And there's a few growing here
that we'll probably harvest sometime today.
Well done. Your star okra. Yes. Our star okra, yeah.
Everything looks so healthy, you know?
I mean, you don't spray and yet...
And I can see there are grasshoppers here
but you've managed to avoid a lot of damage.
Considering you have a garden with no rules,
you're all applying the rules really well.
This garden is in vibrant West End, in inner-south Brisbane.
It occupies around 1,000 square metres,
and in it grow at least 60 different food plants,
all growing in raised beds.
It's been a remarkable success.
We used to do walks around this area.
We used to come past this abandoned plot.
It's been abandoned for years, and it just, like, clicked to us that
we were like, "Oh, maybe we should just start growing food here."
Leaning on Ruby's permaculture background
and Al's love of veggie gardening,
they conducted a site assessment
and identified a water supply and a promising full sun aspect.
We spoke to some of the traditional owners of the land
and asked them for their consent to start this garden.
And then we went on and flyered the community,
put up a big sign that said,
"We're starting a guerrilla garden in one week.
"If you have a problem, call this number."
And we went out and we spoke to some people,
and made sure that the people in this apartment block particularly
were on board and OK with it.
And then a week later, we started.
This garden cost about $2,000 to establish.
We set up the garden in about a day and a half.
We had a team of four people.
We came in, we laid the cardboard out,
and then we laid about 30 centimetres of woodchip mulch,
and then we got some soil delivered and we just set up all the beds.
While lot of effort went into the set-up,
there's no permanent infrastructure,
which helps to avoid the ire of state government.
We've been trying to keep the gardens as simple as possible
so that people can replicate them,
but also so that we can do them and get away with them.
So a part of it is to avoid overcomplicating the gardens
or by adding things that aren't necessary
that the state government might have an issue with.
The produce is grown for refugees living in the community
so Al and Ruby asked them what they would like to eat.
Some of the foods that the guys requested was okras, the main thing,
because they requested that a lot in detention
because they were fed awful food.
So okra, kangkong spinach, cassava.
Given the success of West End, Al and Ruby established a second garden
here at Kangaroo Point, another inner-city Brisbane suburb.
How do you decide what is grown here?
We want these gardens to be for everyone, for the community,
so we just encourage people to come and plant
whatever seeds or plants they want.
And it's kinda just determined by what's in season.
You've had a really big turnout for your working bee.
Is this normal?
Um, yeah, I think so.
We usually get more people in the working bees
when we say it's a pot luck as well.
That's when we get all the people
because people are like, "Ooh, yay, free food as well."
So sometimes we make food from the garden, like a salad,
and after the working bee we eat as well.
There's no doubt that Growing Forward
is becoming a really significant movement,
regularly supplying food
to community organisations and those most vulnerable,
as well building local connections.
So, Growing Forward is still growing?
Indeed it is, it's still growing.
We're hoping to do another four plots this year.
So, we've got a couple more plots in mind in Brisbane
and one in Logan,
so we're hoping to go out, do some site assessments
and establish a few more gardens.
So, turning it, that'll make it speed up a bit.
Yeah, exactly.
The pandemic shattered the illusion
of abundant, reliable supermarket food provided by corporations.
Community responses like this are not only appropriate
for feeding those who need it most during the direst of times,
but also because they are nimble and quick in response to sudden change.
Plus, they're bringing people together.
They're building connections and friendships
which will endure long after the supply crisis,
and the community is stronger and better fed as result.
AL: The whole point of the gardens
is to build community capacity and resilience
so that when the next crisis hits,
whether that be, you know, climate-induced,
and our agriculture systems are failing,
we know how to set up a garden within a day and a half,
and we know how to grow food and feed ourselves.
And while we're doing that,
we also feel connected to a community as well,
where we can look after each other.
And, you know, that's, like, the aim of Growing Forward.
It's not just about, you know, growing food,
it's also about, like, community-building.
For me, something really special about the gardens
is that every time I come, I hear the sound of laughter.
And I think laughter means more than laughter.
It means that we're connected to something.
And so whenever we're in the garden,
as soon as we hear the sound of laughter,
it's a sign that things are going well
and that the project's kind of achieved
what it was set up to achieve.
(LAUGHTER)