Women’s Gardening Program

At Wurrumiyanga Women’s Centre, there are lots of opportunities for women to get involved in activities they enjoy, such as arts, cooking, cleaning, as well as courses. In December, we will have six women graduating in Gardening at CDU.

Our gardening program has been a great success. The CDU lecturer comes across and takes the ladies out to gather plant material, bring the plants back and identify them. The ladies are becoming experts in what plants can be found on the Island.

As part of the program, we built raised garden beds, which took three weeks to establish with turmeric, basil and other herbs, mandarin and lemon trees. We are already using the herbs in our cooking. Next, we will establish our greenhouse.

We also take the ladies out hunting for bush tucker or just to gather material. We try to get the old ladies involved because that’s where all the knowledge is – especially for basket weaving and painting. It’s really important that culture is passed down to the younger women.