TOPSOIL GARDEN PROJECT:
Norton Summit Site update
Topsoil Garden Project at the Norton Summit site is currently waiting on Council approval and we have been told this should go smoothly from here. We will deliver community-based, nature-centric wellness services, supporting the needs of people experiencing mental ill-health and psychosocial disability. We seek to establish the Adelaide Hills as a thriving well-being ecosystem where people can access clinical care, support work and well-being services with a community that supports, enables and inspires them. We hope that through a dramatic reconceptualisation of function, communities can be skilled and empowered to provide kind, ethical and regenerative care.
The three critical aspects of the project are:
Building the Topsoil greenhouse and participant space at the Norton Summit which is currently awaiting council approvals.
Terracing & Earth Moving
Employing a Garden Manager
The first critical component: Will enable us to build our garden greenhouse that will house our seedlings and tools and be a space for participants to gather and welcome the community in. We believe that by encouraging participants to engage in the whole growth process of a plant from raising seedlings in our greenhouse to harvest stages and seed saving. We can provide participants with feelings of accomplishment, connection and purpose. Our greenhouse will also serve as a sheltered space for meetings and workshops. We also hope to enable participants to take home produce, ferments, compost and seeds for their own patch and the broader community, thereby developing more resilient food systems throughout Adelaide. Through the generous support of our community partner, Spacecraft Design Build, we have envisioned the low-impact, sustainable design you see below.
The second critical component: is terracing and earthmoving of the Norton Summit site will enable us to make the land safe for our participants and start planting our first cover crop. We will focus initially on improving the soil to ultimately grow healthy, nutrient-dense harvests and plants that encourage beneficial insects and biodiversity. We also plan to sell the produce to the Scenic hotel. At the end of each season we will bring our participants, friends and community partners together for a harvest lunch, where we can create connections and friendships and ensure our participants feel supported and appreciated. Our sincere hope is that our participants can experience the pride of watching the Adelaide Hills community enjoy the fruits of their labour.
The third critical component: is employing a Garden Manager. Our dear friend Lilly is both an experienced gardener and a long-time volunteer of this project. Lilly has a strong vision for a multi-sensory garden landscape and will continue to work tirelessly to develop the garden space so that participants can get in and get gardening as soon as possible.
Why Horticultre Therapy?
Allow us to nerd out a little here:
People’s interactions with plants and soil, through goal-orientated horticultural activities in the form of active gardening, as well as the passive appreciation of nature could be therapeutic to people with mental disorders in many ways. Activities can be modified and adapted to suit the needs and individualised goals of those participating, as well as a collectivist approach to unify the group. It has been well documented that horticulture-based therapy programs meet the required balance of physical, mental, spiritual and social needs of a human. As well as more granular benefits such as increased gross and fine motor skills, faster recovery times from acute mental illness, and indirect, non-threatening relationship building. Horticulture therapy can also apply to vocational skill-building, as well as the solidifying of food security. Two especially important topics in marginalised communities.
Our big goal after the establishment of the Norton Summit Garden space is to:
Expand to several sites across the Adelaide Hills that cater to participants' varying sensory, accessibility, and programmatic requirements.
Invest in a diverse, evidence-based, holistic range of offerings through an allied health hub model.
Provide clients with the assistance to broker, develop and refine relationships with support workers of their choosing.
Enable community members to become support workers through experience-based and formalised training.
Provide nature-based learning and skill development alongside potential employment opportunities to clients via a horticulture therapy garden and an integrated hotel business.
Thus creating a replicable community of care model that other communities can utilise to create welcoming, well and connected spaces for people experiencing mental ill-health and psychosocial disability.
Please revisit this space for updates on or Norton Summit Garden!
