Maggie Beer visits Uniting AgeWell's Noble Park Community

Renowned Australian cook and author Maggie Beer says Uniting AgeWell - Noble Park’s community garden project is a great example of working together to engage people in healthy living and eating.

Maggie visited Noble Park to see first hand the site of the new community garden project and share her advice on its development. 

The Maggie Beer Foundation donated $2,500 towards the garden as part of its Wellbeing Gardens Program grants in 2015. 

Uniting AgeWell was one of just 11 Victorian senior services organisations to receive funding from the program. 

The initiative supports the development of gardens in aged care residences and promotes healthy eating and exercise through home grown fruit and vegetables. 

Maggie says she was drawn to the idea of turning the area into a vibrant community garden space.

“The intergenerational mixture is so important, using the outdoor kitchen to teach unemployed youth how to cook and to encourage volunteering,” Maggie said. 

“It also provides an opportunity to educate people in the community who are unsure how to cook themselves, educating them what is truly nutritional, what’s seasonal and inexpensive.” 

Maggie spent over an hour at the Noble Park Community, sharing her tips on gardening, chatting to staff and enjoying recipes contributed by the community in the cookbook From Seed to Table.  

The community garden will feature an outdoor kitchen and is designed to encourage social engagement and connections between residents, family members and local communities.  It also aims to participate in the free food movement, giving locals free access to the garden’s bountiful harvest.

Stage two of the garden project commences in March and will involve landscaping, including an area for lawn bowls. 

Uniting AgeWell Noble Park also released a cookbook, From Seed to Table, filled with cherished recipes contributed by its residents, volunteers and staff.  The proceeds from the sale of the books went towards the establishment of the community garden. 

From Seed to Table is still available at $25 a copy. To secure your copy, please call the team at Noble Park on (03) 9554 0717. 

Click here to find out more about Uniting AgeWell's aged care services.