In the garden

Kings Cross Community Garden is divided into three main areas, each with a particular focus and tended by its own team. When you join the garden, you can become part of one or all of these teams, depending on your interests and availability. The teams grew out of special interest groups identified by a member survey in 2021, after the garden was expanded.

Bush food garden

The far end of the community garden is dedicated to growing native edible plants.

With helpful input and guidance from First Nations horticulturalist Terry Lennis and his son, as well as from First Nation's led businesses such as Indigigrow, Bush to Bowl and Shared Knowledge, we have established the beginnings of a productive bush food garden that includes a wealth of berries, fruits, greens, tubers and herbs.

Not only are we experimenting with creating recipes with these ingredients but we are also nurturing a space where people can continue to learn more about First Nations culture and their connection to the environment.

The bush food team works together as needed, generally on Sunday afternoons.

Kitchen garden

The kitchen garden in the centre section grows seasonal vegetables and herbs, as well as companion and beneficial insect-attracting plants, from diverse culinary traditions including Mediterranean, European and Asian.

We aim to engage interested members in sharing their passions, actively working in the garden, participating in planning decisions, propagating seeds and cuttings as required and ensuring our soil is well balanced.

The kitchen garden team works together on Sunday afternoons – in summer 4–6pm, and in winter 3–5pm.

Rambling potager garden

The front section is a garden in the french potager style with edible, ornamental, sensory plants and flowers. Think of impressionist paintings: attractive garden structures, colourful arrangements of vegetables, fruits and flowers, buzzing with pollinators, promoting biodiversity, evoking abundance and fertility, and alluding to the wildness of nature rather than a desire to impose order. And happy gardeners rest in the shade or chat to visitors!

The potager team also tends the trees in large concrete planters in the front section of the garden as well as four young fruit trees at the rear of the park. The rear orchard is currently home to a Brazilian cherry, black sapote, small-leafed tamarind and jujube, selected for their tasty produce, seasonal displays and fine shade qualities.

The rambling potager team works together on Wednesdays and Saturdays 8–10am.