Edible pop-up gardens for the community

A street in Surry Hills will sprout three pop-up gardens to facilitate community gatherings and add greenery to its industrial landscape.

Volunteers and organisers will meet on Foster St to plant the first seedlings of the temporary city-funded installation on Monday, January 16.

Sam Crawford Architects, a long-standing tenant on the street, was awarded the project. Director of the firm, Sam Crawford said the aim is make the commercial street more pedestrian friendly. “We want to transform the street from a way to get from A to B to being a destination itself,” he said. The firm dreamt up the project called the Edible Outdoor Rooms. Each garden occupies the area of a car space and will feature planted vegetables and fruit.

The green pockets will feature sections of recycled concrete pipes supplied by Humes, with some doubling as benches. While the idea was conceived by Sam Crawford and his team, Bates Landscape will roll out the installation using a selection of produce-bearing vegetation chosen by Jane Irwin Landscape Architects.

The 14-week trial will rely on volunteers from the neighbourhood to maintain the gardens by hand-watering. “Twenty-five people would be adequate … they would be rostered,” he said. “We need to make sure there’s no rubbish left behind. We will also document the construction, do a photographic survey and also survey the people who use it and get feedback from the community.” If all goes well, Mr Crawford said the project period could be extended.

Foster St has traditionally been dominated by four- to six-storey art deco buildings used for storing bulk goods or as design showrooms. “There are a lot of creative industries in this pocket and it’s a reasonable walk to the nearest park,” the architect said. “Lots of people on the street have no space to hang out and enjoy a cup of coffee.” The street’s width, spanning 12 metres, is ideal for such a project. It is hoped the gardens will invite people who live and work nearby to care for the plants. Construction costs for the vegetable patches are covered by a City of Sydney grant amounting to $20,000. “Essentially it’s going to all the materials, bitumen, soil, plants, sundry items, steel gutter covers, permits, transport costs and traffic control during construction,” Mr Crawford said.

Local chef and Foster St business owner, Hamish Ingham will also host a series of free workshops on the street. The chef of Bar H said he plans to invite people on either Saturday or Sunday mornings to discuss green tips and cooking ideas.

“I would love to see 25-30 people in each session,” he said. “We will have a talk around the gardens and discuss how to look after them.” He will also create a recipe using the plants and invite guests to execute it in the restaurant. “It’s fantastic for the local community. I think everyone should have a little garden in their backyard – everyone should know where their fresh produce is coming from,” Mr Ingham said.

To maintain his own garden of capsicum, Myer lemons, chili, red radish, cucumber and cherry tomatoes, the chef scours the internet for tips. “Orange peel around the plants gets rid of pests, also old coffee grounds.” Foster Street’s Edible Outdoor Rooms will feature strawberries, lettuce, spinach, beetroot, parsley, thyme, rosemary and sage.