The Edible Landscape Gardens Project is about to end it's implementation stages and commence a new phase to become a food ecology interpretive garden by 2026. Interpretive centres are informal education sites designed to allow the public to better understand the natural or cultural heritage of the site.
‘Interpretation’ is broadly the process of communicating information in museums, botanical gardens etc. The Numinbah Valley Environmental Education Centre is an interpretive site. As educational functions, the David Fleay Wildlife Park is also an interpretive place. Keeping the dimensions right, Ediblescapes as a food ecology interpretive garden will become a small sibling of those more prominent interpretive places.
A video pitch was presented to Gold Coast City Council, proposing a Food Ecology Interpretive Centre be included in the Country Paradise Parklands 2020-2035 master plan. We understand that our proposal influences the inclusion of a ‘Horticulture Precinct’ on the north side of the Parklands. We are impatient to know its details and whether or not there is a role for Ediblescapes.
Ediblescapes volunteers have installed interpretive labels with interactive QR codes linking to further information on the garden website.
Councillor Peter Young’s support
Ediblescapes is deeply proud of Councillor Peter Young’s support with a community development grant to create a program for Queensland Youth Week’s 2023 event. The intent is that in collaboration with artists and gardeners, young people help to create content for a garden, bringing unseen living ecology to an Augmented Reality exhibition through the garden.
Gardening Events
Another way to interpret the site is to experience the garden and do gardening. In June, we welcomed Children of the Wilderness to visit Ediblescapes. In June, we also hosted the Intergenerational Gardening event. Sadly, the wet weather derailed the planned monthly events, and now it is too hot to host gardening events. We will restart the program in March 2023.
Silkwood School
We are tremendously pleased that Silkwood School chose Ediblescapes as a place for students to experience intergenerational gardening. Students got to taste the flavour of the garden fruits; transplant seedlings to the garden bed; help control wild plants by cutting them for composting; harvest vegetables and prepare them for morning tea.
Partnerships
To build the capacity to evolve as a demonstrative and learning site, a partnership with Griffith University organised an ‘Ideas Challenge’ activity hosted at the Yunus Centre Logan Campus on 17 and 18November 2022. This activity and the collaboration with Griffith University facilitated the co-creation of ideas for a demonstrative interpretive garden’.
Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) and Ediblescapes Partnership
On 17-18 October, Jorge participated on behalf of Ediblescapes in the AFSA Convergence 2022 at Echo Valley Farm in Goomburra, near Warwick.
The Convergence participants consented to “A partnership with Ediblescapes to enable horizontal knowledge sharing on agroecology in urban settings, through an Agroecology Lighthouse as a hub for learning and exchanging ideas.” The concept of ‘Lighthouse’ in agroecology indicates a farm with demonstrative agroecology principles. In this case, Ediblescapes develops the urban agroecology interpretive site (lighthouse), and AFSA brings their capacity to facilitate learning programs.
Permaculture Champion - Ediblescapes
Finally, let us congratulate EdibleScapes Garden’s volunteers and supporters who made the Public Edible Landscape Gardens project a reality because EdibleScapes Garden won the inaugural Australian Community Gardens ‘Permaculture Champion award 2022’.
