Susanna Freymark
It was like a party in the garden – there were cakes, and children and smiles among the greenery.
Garden beds were full of tomatoes and spinach spilled from the edges of the beds.
A peach tree was beginning to blossom and some brave white flowers stood out on the grey morning of Saturday, August 22 in Casino.
A fairy wren balanced on a tree that was starting to get its new leaves.
Members of the Casino Forest Garden weren’t celebrating though – this was a farewell to a community garden they had started from scratch, tended for years and shared the spoils from the garden with anyone who wanted them.
Casino Forest Garden is about to be demolished. The land where the garden sits is owned by the Casino RSM group and it is being sold.
Kate Hawkins has organised a petition but it is unlikely to stop the sale.
The founders of the garden gathered on Saturday. They all agreed the garden had come a long way.
Co-founder Bernice Shepherd said there were five volunteers in 2020 who started creating the garden.
“We did everything on the cheap,” she said.
“I can’t believe how much everything has grown.”
The Casino RSM Club was given a State Government grant of $4000 in 2018–19 to establish a community garden.
The original garden beds were donated by Neale Genge, who was chief executive of the Casino RSM Club at the time.
“During my time at the RSM, the gardens often provided a place of solace — somewhere I could briefly escape, reflect and recharge while navigating the pressures of covid, floods, bushfires and the many other challenges of that period,” Mr Genge said.
“I have many fond memories of the gardens and the people involved in establishing them, and I sincerely hope opportunities can be found to establish similar community gardens and green spaces within CBD areas for others to enjoy.”
And that was the main point, Ms Hawkins said, for the garden to offer a place where people could enjoy nature and to have a garden based on permaculture principles of growing food without sprays.
“This has sparked a conversation about edible plants,” she said.
She wanted to see more food trees planted and had spoken to Richmond Valley Council about it.
There is a mango tree in the McDonalds car park, she said.
“This garden is about food security,” Ms Hawkins said.
“We could feed the town. People can wander in and take food.”
The supermarket signs of Coles and Woolworths can be seen from the Casino Forest Garden.
Ms Hawkins did a price check of how much vegetables cost at the major supermarkets.
It was $4.90 for a bag of spinach – free and in copious amounts at the forest garden.
Ms Hawkins said the group is looking for a new site – preferably in the CBD.
With the bulldozing of the site imminent – an actual date has not been given to the group – people are encouraged to take from the garden before it goes.