Join Randwick's gardening community

You can become part of Randwick's gardening community by:

• Volunteering at the Randwick Sustainability Hub
• Joining the Grow it Local community
• Joining an existing Community Garden  (see below)
• Starting a new Community Garden (see below)
• Volunteering with community parks
• Joining a Bushcare group
• Participating in our street tree planting project
• Checking out Randwick's community nursery
• Planting on the road verge
• Enrolling in organic gardening courses and workshops.

Looking for native plants?

Visit the Randwick Community Nursery
2B Barker Street (Corner Day Lane and Barker Street)
Kingsford NSW 2032
Open 9:00 am to 3:00 pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays)

Local food networks

• Randwick Organic Buyers Group is a friendly not-for-profit community group. Buying organic produce in bulk from the wholesaler, on behalf of their members
• Thoughtful Foods Cooperative selling environmentally, socially, and ethically responsible organic wholefoods; undertake community outreach; organise social events and maintain a small garden on the University of NSW grounds
• Rhubarb Food Cooperative aiming to provide an outlet providing organic natural foods, groceries and household produce

Community Gardens

In Australia, community gardening is a way for people to engage with public and institutional land and to take responsibility for its management.

Community gardens:

• Supplement the household diet with fresh, tasty food
• Provide places for safe, social interaction
• Are inexpensive to participate in
• Are usually easy to access
• Are accepting of social difference

Community gardens are a way of bringing food production back to the city and are one element in making Randwick more resilient to environmental and social pressures.

The benefits

Community gardens are places where people come together to grow fresh food, to learn, relax and make new friends. Community gardeners know that sharing land to grow food and other plants builds a sense of place and community.

The benefits of community gardening include:

• Easy access to fresh, nutritious food
• A sense of achievement that comes through growing some of your own food needs and making friends with people in the neighbourhood
• Learning the skills of gardening, shared decision making and cooperation, all of which are necessary to successful community gardens
• Healthy outdoor exercise participating in a constructive and productive recreational activity
• Improving the local environment.

Research in 2005 by Dr Bruce Judd and Dr Rob Samuels of the AHURI UNSW-UWS Research Centre found that community food gardening, as part of a community development strategy, was effective in reducing the incidence of crime on housing estates.

Thinking about setting up your own community garden?

Please refer to Randwick Council's:

• Community garden guidelines PDF, 5229.01 KB
• Community garden expression of interest PDF, 503.6 KB
• Community garden application form PDF, 522.18 KB
• Community garden policy PDF, 75.25 KB

To start the process of establishing a community garden please fill in this very short form.

For further information email Helen Morrison, Sustainability Project Officer, Community Programs  sustainability@randwick.nsw.gov.au

Find a local Community Garden...

Coogee Community Garden

We are a group of people living in Coogee who love the smell of home grown tomatoes. We want to establish a garden in Coogee so we can grow vegetables and nurture community. Over the past few years, a small but dedicated crew have maintained the enthusiasm and the dream of a community garden. And, now it is a reality!

Membership of Coogee Community Garden (CCG) is open to adults of 18 years and above, although children and young adults can attend the garden with their parents and guardians. There are two kinds of active members at the CCG.

1. Garden Lovers — those who participate in activities of the garden, such as using the community garden areas, but do not have a plot
2. Garden Growers (Plot members) — those who have been allocated plots.

Where is the garden?

The garden is behind the scout hall on Dolphin Street.

Find out more

For more information on the Coogee Community Garden you can:

• email coogeecommunitygarden@gmail.com
• visit the CCG website
• visit the CCG facebook group.

Randwick Community Organic Garden

Randwick Community Organic Garden (RCOG) offers the community space to grow fresh veggies, herbs and flowers using organic gardening methods.

The garden is run by community members and offers both communal and private plots.

Where is the garden?

Randwick Community Organic Garden sits at the Northern end of Paine Reserve on the corner of Rainbow and Botany Streets, Randwick.

If you are interested in joining RCOG:

• Visit the RCOG website
• Come to the garden during its working bee (3rd Sunday of the month)
• Walk past and have a look at the veggies, the chooks and the beautiful new rainwater tank
• Meet new people through gardening
• Gardening with RCOG is a wonderful way to meet people from different segments of the community and develop local friendships and connections.

Free gardening workshops

The garden runs free monthly educational workshops for members in sustainable gardening and creative environments.

Non-members are always welcome to these workshops for a small donation.

RCOG aims to provide the community with an active experience of environmentally friendly living.

Join in at a garden working bee

Randwick Community Organic Garden is very community-based, and during working bees all members work together on infrastructure projects such as:

• Planting vegetables
• Making compost
• Mulching and weeding
• Caring for the native plant areas

Find out more

For more information on the Randwick Community Organic Garden you can:

• email randwickcommunityorganicgarden@gmail.com
• visit the RCOG website
• visit the RCOG facebook group.