Our House: Celebrating ‘HomeGrown’ A Gardening Program for Community Housing Residents

In the spirit of togetherness, belonging, and community for all Australians this Australia Day, we thought we’d shine a spotlight on one of our most rewarding programs yet - 'HomeGrown'.

HomeGrown is a gardening program we developed in partnership with Southern Cross University and the Federal Government. Also assisting HomeGrown in its early inception stages is Link Housing and Compass Housing, amazing not-for-profit organisations helping housing residents participate in programs that create positive change for members.

*We’d also like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land on this day who have epitomised beautiful communities here for thousands of years

The Theory Behind HomeGrown

HomeGrown’s ethos builds upon the idea (studied by SCU) that communal gardening in shared social settings can help neighbours feel less socially isolated and facilitate social cohesion.

The Results

So far we’ve set up 15 Vegepods in 5 different social housing settings, with a further 10 sites already booked in, and the results couldn’t be better. Here’s a small clip that says it all:

The Program

The program involves setting up Vegepod gardens in a communal area. Ground rules are established around caring for the garden and who will be responsible for what. Finally growing plans and gardening activities are initiated with residents building a sense of community and togetherness through planning, maintaining and harvesting delicious fruits and veggies!

If you’d like to find out more about HomeGrown and how Vegepod can help set up the program in your area, please get in touch by emailing info@vegepod.com.au.

To read more about out different gardening program initiatives including Grow Ability, Senior Grow, Sprouters, and KindyGarden - have a look at our Community Programs Page or read our blog ‘Vegepod Gets Involved In Community Gardening!’