News / Community gardens
‘Pharmacy and supermarket’ – The garden that helps community help itself
My Saturday morning walk from Easton was bathed in bright sunshine. Following the Frome through the woods I soaked up the rays as they danced between leaves and in dazzling patches on the path ahead.
By the time I popped out in Fishponds, I was warm through, bathed in nature’s green light.
It was the perfect state in which to meet Bernie.
is needed now More than ever
The guardian of a tiny streetside herb patch, Bernie is completely at home sitting among the foliage. She picks fresh mint for tea while spinning its tale
The streetside ‘windowsill’ of Herbs Yourself is backed by trees, behind which is a huge patch waiting to be cleared and used for planting
Herbs Yourself was born of twin desires: to learn more about medicinal herbs, and to build community. The project’s ‘windowsill’ is filled with medicinal and culinary plants, with plans for more growing once the wooded space behind is cleared.
“The idea really is to become the pharmacy and the supermarket of the community – so if you have a cold you can collect some herbs – or if you’re cooking and realise you need chives, you can come here and pick some,” says Bernie, before pointing out lavender plants and a fig tree that have been left by residents.
“The chairs are donated, the garden sign is a kitchen top someone threw away that we repainted. It’s a place managed and developed for and by the community.
“If you have too much of something in your garden, you bring it here. It’s a spirit of reciprocal giving and taking.
“The key message is help yourself. The more we come, the more we meet and learn from other members of the community, and feel more resilient.”
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Bernie began the project seven months ago, and the council has now granted it official approval. It was a rapid process, as she had experience and contacts after setting up the Dove Street garden in 2022. She moved to Fishponds a year ago, and realised the potential of herbs to bring people together.
Now, a growing number of residents are regularly involved and around 30 people turned up to the garden’s first event, a foraging workshop.
“I think there’s an appetite for community-oriented projects where you learn for free, with no business attached. Then people feel they want to give something back,” beams Bernie.
The project has been built on foraging and permaculture principles, with the group first identifying what was already present in the area, including ox-eye daisies, borage and artemisia.
“We realised just by naming the plants that we already have so much!” she said. “We also found that we have a lot to share.
“With herbs, there are pockets of knowledge but so much has been lost – but there are so many books, and brilliant people to help us remember. It’s making all those connections accessible, that’s what people really want.”
The project’s first event, a foraging workshop, attracted over 30 people – much to Bernie’s surprise and delight
Bernie says there’s a lot to gain from involvement in community gardens.
“Key for us is the intergenerational element: we want the older people, who have time to volunteer, to come and talk with a two or three year old,” she explains.
“Parents can come here with their families. Children are so immersed in technology, we really need to find a good way to connect them back into nature.
“Slowing down, becoming more open, or just putting your feet on the ground: here’s definitely a wellbeing aspect – gardening is so therapeutic. There’s a lot of research showing that everyone who’s over 90 has been gardening!”
Bernie said the process of naming the plants already happily established in the plot has helped her to feel more connected to nature
Bernie – Dr Bernardita Munoz-Chereau – who is an educational psychologist and lecturer at UCL, a children’s author of more than 30 titles, has three children and is curating a nature-themed book selection for her husband’s bookshop, EBB, says the best advice she can give aspiring community gardeners is “just do it!”
“If we had started trying to get permission, we could still be speaking,” she says. “Make a start and you will get the support and attract the right people.”
Secondly, don’t restrict your own imagination. “Have an open vision,” advises Bernie. “I’m not interested in making Herbs Yourself a self-sustaining place for food, but other members are, so we’re making room for that.”
Finally, perhaps the most important for people with busy lives: discipline and consistency.
“If you say you’re going to wake up every Saturday, no matter what, and be in the garden from 10 till 12 – that’s a commitment, with yourself and others.
“Once that’s established, you have trust, and responsibility, and things will grow.”
Herbs Yourself is centred round community and recently held a barbecue to celebrate approval from the council for the group to continue managing the patch of land
Bernie adds that it’s important to celebrate the wins, and positivity is ingrained in her outlook.
“It’s that saying: look after your thoughts because they become your actions, which become your behaviour, which becomes your destiny…
“Focusing on the positive is a bias. You have to decide what you want to lean into and celebrate. Don’t overwhelm yourself with the world’s problems. You can change the world with very small and simple day-to-day activities.”
Bernie returns to the idea of Herbs Yourself being a reciprocal project, with neighbours turning up that help with bike repairs during the garden session or walk dogs while other members are on holiday. And there’s also a connection with nature itself.
“For me the herbs are the hub, or the healing,” she says.
“I really love the idea that plants can heal you. The project has changed my relationship with nature. Before, I felt I had to administer this garden; now, I feel we are part of it.
“We are part of the soil, we come from the soil and without plants this universe is not possible.”
All images: Bernadita Munoz-Chereau / Herbs Yourself
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