Aunty Glenys Merry is growing food for those in need.By Melissa Donchi
WITH a rock and a knife as her only tools, Aunty Glenys Merry has transformed a patch of brown dirt into a thriving community garden for the Too-Rong Aboriginal Corporation in Healesville.
Yielding broccoli, cauliflower, potato, beans, parsnip, celery, cabbage and lettuces, just to name a few, the garden has become a full-time job for the elder who until recently had plans to retire.
“About a year ago I thought I’d retire,” Ms Merry said. “It lasted about 10 days.”
Instead, the former florist and farmhand has been working four days a week in the garden which now provides fresh vegetables for the indigenous community.
The garden is now part of a wider food relief program, which distributes groceries to more than 700 residents registered as families with Medicare.
While some funding from Care Connect and the Shire of Yarra Ranges has gone towards a fridge and a freezer, the garden has essentially funded itself.
Weeds are pulled out by hand, seeds are replanted and excess vegetables are turned into produce and sold with the money going right back into the garden.
The idea for a community garden came from attending a Department of Health Services (DHS) Pathways forum in October last year where she learnt that the majority of indigenous kids there had not had breakfast or lunch.
Since then, retirement has been the last thing on Ms Merry’s mind as she works hard to provide food to those in need.
Her ultimate aim is to get more people involved to lower the cost of the program.
“Occasionally we will have to buy fertiliser or pay someone to mow the grass which all takes away money that could go towards food,” Ms Merry said.
“It would be great to get more people involved with the program.”
