Kensington Stockyard Food Garden celebrates with Christmas sale

Potted plants, vegetable seedlings, fresh produce, and handcrafted aprons, tea towels and garden decorations will all be on offer at the Kensington Stockyard Food Garden’s Christmas sale.

The sale will be held from 10am to 12pm on Sunday, December 1 at the Kensington Stockyard Food Garden, where the historic Newmarket Saleyards once stood.

Proceeds from the sale will go towards essential supplies, such as potting mix, fertiliser and tools, to keep the Food Garden running.

“We’ve got a number of potted plants, and coming up into the summer growing period, we will have some vegetable seedlings available for purchase, too,” Kensington Stockyard Food Garden chair Nan Austin said.

“We get a lot of donated materials, fabrics and wool, so there will be some craft items for sale as well, such as garden aprons, kitchen aprons, tea towels, fabric-based items, and we’ve also got some garden decorations.”

Run by local volunteers, the Food Garden has been growing vegetables, herbs and fruits for the community since 2018.

Ms Austin joined the Kensington Stockyard Food Garden in 2019 after moving from New Zealand back to Australia.

“Why I like the Kensington Stockyard Food Garden is because we garden cooperatively,” she said.

“People do not have their own separate plot; everyone pitches in and shares across the whole garden. So, I really like that concept of the cooperative approach to vegetable gardening,” she said. 

“That means that it is a true member garden. You know, people are empowered, if they want to put a plant in, they can, if they want to harvest something, they can. There’s not a lot of rules, which is wonderful.”

The garden currently has 52 members and is completely free to join for anyone living in Kensington.

Because of the historic bluestone paving at the site, all gardening is done in pots above ground.

Volunteers take part in a weekly watering roster, weekly working bees and monthly member morning teas.

The Kensington Stockyard Food Garden focuses on community participation, increasing local biodiversity and feeding the community, and its produce is typically given to volunteers and community members for free in exchange for labour and is only sold occasionally during fundraisers.

“It is a very special space.” Ms Austin said. “These old stockyards, they’ve been there since the late 1800s. It’s a very serene, quiet place. It’s just a lovely environment,” she said.

“So, we certainly do invite people down if they want to pop in any Sunday morning for a visit while we’re doing a working bee, or they’re welcome to contact me if they want to see the garden or become a member of our group.” •