What began as an idea to prevent waste and find uses for excess produce has become a much-needed community for Bron Kelly.
Like many on the mountain she had a little roadside stall outside her Eagle Heights home offering produce from her garden.
Her neighbour, Lisa Guy had seen Costa Georgiadis visiting an edible exchange at Samford and the pair decided to replicate the idea on the mountain.
“We were looking for ways to bring community together and all things food,” she reflected.
“We had a lot of input from the Samford exchange, and they recommended doing it with a Facebook page – the Eagle Heights Edible Exchange.”
That was two years ago. Today it boasts 1400 members.
The little stall outside Bron’s house, built using second-hand materials by Bron and Lisa became so busy that they were forced to move it and fortunately The Manor stepped in, offering the space on their pickleball carpark.
“It is a lot more about health and community and connection as well as the food,” Bron said of the Exchange.
“Numerous new friendships have been forged. We didn’t know that’s what we’d get out of our efforts to manage food waste.”
This has certainly been the case for Bron, who was drawn to life here five years ago due to a change in her personal circumstances.
“The mountain for me is a haven away from the city and the coast. Without knowing it, it has become community and relationships and a space to be with people and consciously being a part of nature,” she explained.
Bron has also spent three years transforming her own 700 square metre garden from a closed in area of pebbles and ornamentals to 80 per cent medicinal or edible plants, including 40 fruit and nut trees and chickens.
She worked with the help of a local landscaper to design spaces that have become garden rooms, aligned with permaculture zones, keeping things you use daily close to the house.
Bron has grand plans for the development of food production to help locals become more resilient through her yearly edible garden trail and next year a village harvest which will feature demonstrations, workshops, art, music and more.
“We also run a monthly crop swap on the last weekend of the month which allows people to meet face to face, share recipes and unusual plants that might be growing.
“We are educating each other on what grows well around here and tips and tricks to increase people’s harvest.”
