Long-awaited community garden in Kelmscott about to bloom

RIVER Road is about to spring to life with a long-awaited community garden.

Kelmscott Community Garden group secretary Jehni Thomas-Wurth said the garden had been nearly four years in the making, with many a plan made and hoop jumped through.

“It’s been a heroic effort to actually persist to this point. It’s been frustrating on many levels, but we were determined to see it through,” she said.

The Kelmscott Community Garden group has a lease arrangement with the City of Armadale for the land, but runs independently.

They’re teeming with ideas for their new green space, which is already completely fenced and has two sheds on the grounds.

“At our opening, we would like to engage the community and say ‘Look, this is a space for everybody, anyone can join, and we want to know what they’d like to see. We’ve got lots of ideas, but we’re looking for consensus,” she said.

The group is thinking of having a large community planting space, plots for hire, possible seed swaps, bat boxes and more.

Ms Thomas-Wurth said the space could also be used for other events.

“Gardening’s the thing that joins everyone together, it’s a non-threatening space,” she said.

“Other groups can come in and do workshops, we can do educational outreach. There’s a lot of things the garden can unite people with.”

The Kelmscott Community Garden will be holding an official opening for invited guests, with Armadale Mayor Henry Zelones and Armadale MLA Tony Buti, who has been a long-time supporter of the garden initiative, set to join in the festivities.

To get involved with the community garden and express an interest for an invitation to its official opening, head to facebook.com/kelmscottcommunitygarden or email kelmscottgarden@gmail.com.

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