Around twenty years ago Joe Kielnerowski had an idea that he shared with his friend and neighbour Rosanne – the linking their backyards with gates for communal gardening of their ¼ acre blocks, sharing the jobs and the harvest. Another friend Andrew joined them 5 years later having had a connected garden with his parents a few blocks away, incorporating his experience as the President of the SA Rare Fruit Society and his farming education.
What started as a private arrangement grew when they invited an elderly neighbour with a vacant block of weeds to share her land. Joe and Rosanne had been eyeing off the block for a number of years before they finally had the courage to ask her if they could maintain the block for her and plant fruit trees there. That patch, planted around 2008, still supports over 30 trees.
Based firmly on goodwill and trust, around 15 properties (located between 2 sites in Elizabeth Grove, 2km apart) are linked via gates attaching the back yards. Not all properties are active participants, some sharing their land in exchange for some produce and others assisting with the Open Garden Days, lectures and workshops. Those properties that no longer wish to participate, for a variety of reasons such as new tenants or owners, close their gate. In the same vein, not all participants wish to have people traipsing through their garden all day and each member has their own boundaries that are fully respected such as calling first or only taking tours through the gardens by prior arrangement.
Joes Connected Garden is the parent to Andrews Urban Farm (another collaboration of properties 1.2km away) which is where the poultry, aquaponics ponds (which have fish in the small ponds that flow into the large pond with around 300 dragonfly hatchlings), bee hives and further fruit & vegetable gardens and the new Teaching/Function centre, library and home to the large wood fired outdoor oven are located. Joe & Andrew are growing over 400 varieties of edible figs and this location supports the 2nd nursery.
Joe, Rosanne and Andrew are focussing on teaching the wider community paddock to plate. Starting with looking after the soil, making bio char and compost to then planting, growing and harvesting, seed saving and cooking the produce. Joe teaches a lot of local school students the basics of gardening – growing the next generation of permaculture gardeners. Excess produce is available from the Grow Free Cart located in Elizabeth Grove, South Australians please note they are in the Yellow Zone for Fruit Fly.
Joes Connected Garden & Andrews Urban Farm have been WWOOF Hosts since 2023 and have participated in the Open Garden Scheme since 2013 – open for 2 days of the weekend offering talks and demonstrations over both days. For those interested the Gardens are available to be viewed as a private tour by arrangement and courses are available to the public. Joe, Rosanne and Andrew welcome more people to participate or even to buy into the neighbourhood to join them on this journey. More information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/JoesConnectedGarden
REVIEWS:
Max J : I stayed at Joe’s connected garden for two weeks and I really enjoyed it! I loved the intentions behind the gardens and the community building within the Adelaide suburbs. Joe was kind enough to take me to several places during my stay The beach, the local market, the Adelaide hills and many more! I appreciated this as it meant my experience was well rounded and more integrated with Southern Australian living. I enjoyed the work too. It felt meaningful and gave me a useful basic gardening skillset which I never had before. I’d liked to have stayed longer too but alas I had my transport booked already. Nevertheless, best of luck with the open garden Joe, hoping it all goes smoothly 🙂
William W : Spending a few weeks at Joes connected Garden was the highlight of my trip to Australia. It was an incredible opportunity and learn from a brilliant and eclectic cast of characters. Joe, Andrew, Rosanne, and John made me feel right at home. John’s home-cooking is spectacular and I was often over served (you’ll never go hungry). Throughout working around the gardens, everyone enjoys taking plenty of time for teaching moments. In my time at Joes, I learned heaps about permaculture, organic farming practices, self sufficiency, community building, and the power of food. Even in the winter, I was able to try a number of fruits totally foreign to me. ZI loved being able to grab a navel orange or guava right off the tree anytime I needed a snack. In the end, I can’t recommend this place enough. Special place with very special people.
