Resilience in the garden

Words by Jade Peace

On the first morning of Spring, Kit and I did a little maintenance in the garden at 241 Bondi Road. Our job was to empty one of our “cooked” compost bins and use the nutritious compost to fill one of our raised beds that has been neglected of late. During this process we found a whole host of creatures: worms (of course), centipedes and beetles in the compost; a bright green cricket and a family of slaters in the raised bed; and I spied a red-wattle bird amongst the garden’s trees as we worked.

We also found incredible plants, surviving and thriving against the odds. As we opened up the lid of the compost bin and peered inside, the expected brown matter was topped with little yellow flowers on white stems, obviously sprouted up from seed in the nutritious organic debris.

Similarly in the raised bed we realised that the nasturtium which covered most earth here was originating from a tiny pot. We transplanted this courageous little plant into a nice patch of sunny earth out the front of 241.

We also found a weed that had started life in a pot and then has grown its roots down into the soil underneath through the pot’s drainage holes!

Working the garden is such a grounding and fulfilling way to start the weekend and I think the lesson that it was trying to teach us today was about resilience. I am inspired by these small plants that, even when they seem constricted, are surviving and growing outside their pots!

If you would like to get involved in the garden at 241 Bondi Road, please join us on the second Sunday of every month, February through November, from 10am – noon. Bring a hat and hydration. We’d love to meet you.