I have been looking through the files on Gerard’s computer and found this! Knowing Gerard for 41 years, I understand how important the garden was to him for his health and well being. He would spend hours out there (much due to necessity as we loved on an acre!) This will help you understand why he was so keen to get a Food Forest and beautiful garden space at VASS for him and the other residents, their visitors and staff to enjoy.
Gerard wrote:
“For me the garden has always been my place. From my humble beginnings in small spaces, I have always enjoyed the relaxation and mindfulness of working with the soil. Of breaking up the dirt with my hands. Of planting roses, vegetables, fruit trees and then reaping my rewards. Of beautiful flowers in the garden and then in a vase and of bountiful produce that sat on our table before being devoured.
Walks along the Yarra and through the bush. Hiking up mountains enjoying the wind and the rain in the Grampians, cold air on my face were always the most pleasurable of times.
I have always been a “pacer”. Pacing in my Warrandyte garden, surround by the trees and birds allowed me to clear my head and reset after a busy week. Then hours in the veggie garden, going hard at it digging the soil, would tire me out and relax me.
And then after my accident, when the garden was no longer my own, I enjoyed escaping out of the residential facility for a walk along the Darebin Creek trail to see the trees, smell the fresh air, hear the birds and see the wind in the trees. I love feeling the wind on my face; the only part of me that can is able to feel touch.
At VASS, there is a small, raised vegetable garden. Over the past few years I have grown some tomatoes, some spinach and a few herbs. Peter, one of the nurses, brings in the tomato seedlings and we plant them together, usually with the help of one of the disability support workers. I take great delight in watching them grow and much pleasure in sharing them with my family, the staff and other residents.
The garden has and continues to be so important for my health and well- being. It allows me to “escape”, reset and refocus. It gives me a break from the day in day out boredom of being inside and I enjoy how each day it looks different. Even though I am paralysed from the neck down, I can see, I can hear and enjoy the calmness of the garden. “