Like an Italian piazza, this community garden has grown a community

When Mario Minuzzo looked at an overgrown patch of land behind his suburban Adelaide home 30 years ago, he saw the beginnings of a meeting place. The reserve was filled with vermin and snakes, including a red-bellied black snake that entered his house among his children on Christmas morning.

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The critical thing that started me was when a red-bellied black snake ended up in our house amongst the children on Christmas morning.

Minuzzo received permission to mow and maintain the land at Aqueduct Reserve in Highbury. As neighbours became interested, the Pioneer Court Community Garden was established in 1996. Now 88, Minuzzo is celebrating what the garden has become.

His Italian heritage shaped the idea. In Italy, he said, local people meet in the piazza to walk, share stories and connect. He wanted the garden to create that same sense of community and place.

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My heritage is Italian and in Italy, local people often meet in the piazza.

The garden has expanded from a one-hectare plot into several growing areas. It contains more than 40 plots, 75 members and almost 400 fruit and nut trees and vines, including pomegranates, bananas, grapes and macadamias. The land is leased from South Australia’s Department for Environment and Water.

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The secret power of our garden is actually the retired community.

Chairperson Marina Birch, who took over from Minuzzo in 2022, said retired members kept the garden operating while families, younger adults and people from different countries added to its mix. Laura Fleming, the youngest member, said she had enjoyed meeting local residents and learning to grow unfamiliar plants. The garden’s members also grow produce beyond their own plots, extending its impact into the surrounding community.

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It has been so nice to meet local residents and learn from them and grow things I’ve never grown before.