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Community & Business

5 February, 2025

Garden growing community connection

A COMMUNITY garden in Malanda, which has become a place to learn, relax and connect with nature and other people, is inviting more volunteers and visitors to come by and experience the space.


Lead volunteer Bernie Brown with the corn crop at the ECHO community garden in Malanda.
Lead volunteer Bernie Brown with the corn crop at the ECHO community garden in Malanda.

ECHO’s community development officer Bel Moore said the garden was a great place for those who wanted to explore the joy and magic of growing plants, with experienced growers onsite to spread their knowledge. 

The community garden, behind the neighbourhood house at 13 Eacham Place, Malanda, began in early 2023 and continues to change and evolve.

“We are retro-fitting the existing ornamental gardens, nurturing some older fruit trees, adding new fruit trees and vines, and growing annuals and perennials – mostly in eight raised beds and a large round garden,” Bel explained.

“We grow a lot of tropical edibles including cassava, Queensland arrowroot, various ‘spinaches’, and herbs.”

Bel says the garden was created to teach the whole community about growing their own food plants suited to the area’s unique climate, and for gardeners to meet and connect.

“There is a lot of focus on indoor living these days – work, screen time, driving, and gatherings and entertainment inside buildings. We spend more time in man-made places – often with a lot of noise or other people,” she said. 

“To have some peaceful space outdoors helps us recognise the natural rhythm and essence of life.  A garden is a multi-sensory place where each success and failure is a lesson.  

“Outdoors, we interact with the world and each other in a more cooperative and caring way.  

“A garden is more than just plants.  It’s a realm that runs parallel to ours where we can touch and be touched by nature.”

Bel says the community garden is more than a place to grow food – it’s a hub of learning, connection, and community spirit. 

“By participating, visitors and volunteers become part of a collective effort to nurture both the garden and the bonds between its caretakers,” she said. 

“Working in harmony with nature, our community builds skills and shares experiences that inspire sustainable, climate-adapted gardening practices. 

“Each session offers hands-on learning, whether it’s understanding soil health, the lifecycle of plants, or the rhythms of our unique tropical highlands environment.”

Visitors and volunteers come along to the garden from 9am-11am every Monday, or other times by appointment. 

Gardeners can harvest, prune, weed, dig, plant, propagate, create garden art, make tea for others, label plants, sort seeds, and more.  People of all abilities and ages are welcome.

School, kindergarten, homeschool, and daycare groups are encouraged to book a session with Bel who will provide appropriate activities and information about the garden and growing food for the children.

For more information, contact Bel at 

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