1. They’ve learnt new skills and how growing, harvesting and eating your own food is good for both mental and physical health.
2.  They learnt about the seasonality of food and picked up recipe ideas and new cooking techniques.
3. They’ve tried out different foods and flavours that were once popular but may not be available in supermarkets.
4. They’re encouraged to grow their own food at home in tandem with the community food project.
5. They’ve learnt how successes and failures of growing food are ‘normal’.
6. They have a better appreciation of how difficult it can be to grow food without using chemicals and why organic food is generally more expensive at markets and in shops.
7.  They’re more likely to shop locally, searching out better quality foods and flavours.
8. Community gardens are available to people on a tight budget.
9. The experience has given them a better appreciation of their community.
10. They’ve learnt a basic life skill – they will know that whatever happens, they will be able to provide food for themselves and their families.

This list could go on. There’s room for a community garden everywhere. All you need is a small scrap of land to create one and an enthusiastic couple of people to get one up and running.

Goresbridge Community Garden, Kilkenny

Click here to find out how Goresbridge developed their Community Garden in 2010.

Thanks to James Bourke of www.biggerpictureweb.com and also one of the Goresbridge   community gardeners, a full gallery of photos of the garden from its inception in March 2010 are available on Flickr.