Kids growing a love for gardening at Warrnambool Community Garden
16/04/2025
Kids and vegetables can be a tricky combination, but a community garden in Victoria’s south west is changing that through hands-on learning.
The Warrnambool Community Garden is run by a passionate team of 190 members and around 30 volunteers, who dedicate their time to educating people of all ages about locally and sustainably grown produce.
Since it was established in 2005, the garden has grown to include more than 50 privately rented garden plots, a commercial kitchen, a rehabilitated quarry site turned natural amphitheater, bush food garden and a weekly garden market.
We’ve supported the Warrnambool Community Garden by providing funding for a new tractor and rotary hoe to prepare new garden beds, while a shed for equipment and more workshop space has also been built.
That means the volunteers have more time to spend getting out in the garden and sharing their enthusiasm with other green thumbs.
Bridging community gaps through gardening
Heather Ryan is the coordinator of the Garden’s Sprouts Club, which brings together budding young gardeners aged 6 to 12 with volunteers from the local community.
“We do everything from seed raising to planting, growing, harvesting, maintenance, composting, worm farms, water conservation, habitat gardens, a really broad spectrum of activities,” Heather says.
“I’m really enthused about gardening and teaching the kids about gardening, because we’ve lost that knowledge, some of their parents don’t know how to garden.”
The club also has a kitchen garden program, which has been so popular it’s booked out months in advance.
The program, Heather says, teaches kids not only to cook, but important skills like social development and responsibility, teamwork, and community engagement.
“They’re also more likely to eat food they grow, they learn positive food behaviours and they love learning through sensory experiences.”
“Particularly when they go up and pull a carrot and they start eating it, or they’ll pick a snowpea and eat it, that’s really rewarding.”
Heather says potatoes are always a favourite with the children.
“It’s like digging for buried treasure, they go crazy when they’re digging for potatoes because they keep digging and they find a bit more and a bit more. They love it.”
A place for all green thumbs
With a focus on community inclusion, the Warrnambool Community Garden is now home to a half day festival focusing on sustainability, and has won awards for its programs.
In 2022, it won the Premier’s Sustainability Award in the Community Champion category, and one of the garden’s chickens, Dame Eggna, was named Australia’s best named chook in the Grow It Local national competition.
Convenor Courtney Mathew says everyone is welcome at the garden.
“Everyone can learn how to grow their own food and find a place here - the garden shows that when we work together, even the smallest seeds of ideas can blossom into something wonderful,” she says.
“Volunteers are the beating heart of our garden - by improving their experience we can continue to grow community while building essential life skills and intergenerational knowledge.”
Learn more about Regional Development Victoria’s work in Barwon South West.