Latest news with #KaurnaCountry
ABC News
4 days ago
- General
- ABC News
This garden was built on a small budget. Here are the key elements
How do you transform a blank-slate backyard into a plant-filled retreat when you don't have a clear plan or many resources? Jayne Varnish's inner-city Adelaide garden on Kaurna Country is a haven of plants and memories collected over almost three decades. The layout emerged organically, "I just made wavy paths and shapes around trees," Jayne says. Over time, the garden beds were filled with "foolproof plants that were easy to propagate" such as salvias and geraniums. Here's how her garden came together on a small budget and around existing trees. Wild gardens like Jayne's include a variety of textures, which come from foliage. Leaves can be plain or patterned, narrow or broad, shiny or furry, lobed or pointy. Different textures and forms create variation in light and shadows and keeps the garden interesting year-round as you're not reliant on flowers or lots of sun. "I've always loved gardens of all kinds, it doesn't matter the style as long as there's lots of texture — a mix of strappy, fluffy, and wavy things fluttering around," Jayne says. She has used a variety of materials for edging and paths, including bricks, logs, and stepping stones, to delineate zones in the garden with texture. It means she's not stuck needing to find and buy lots of the same material, rather making use of whatever is on hand. A huge mulberry tree takes up a lot of space and is the natural centrepiece of the yard and it's likely as old as the house itself. It provides plenty of fruit and the leaves become part of compost making. Being deciduous, the tree provides summer shade and winter sun for the nearby seating area. While tough, strappy plants such as clivias can survive in the ground beneath trees, Jayne has "resorted to putting things in pots there because tree roots take all the moisture." Even if you can plant in the ground, pots still have an important role to play in any garden, containing fast-spreading plants, and creating interesting vignettes with plants at different heights. This garden has never been just for people. The abundance and density of shrubbery and small flowers attracts birds and invertebrates. "I have this deep feeling that we must have more green spaces in dense urban areas. All the old houses around me are being subdivided and I feel like I need to garden for the whole suburb," she says. For the resident blue tongue lizards and geckos, Jayne saves branches from the garden or downed street trees to make sculptural lizard shelters. She has also invested in a mulcher machine to turn every scrap of wood into mulched paths. It's the perfect material for bugs and worms to live in, and water permeable to keep the soil moist and healthy below. "There's water everywhere too, we've got handmade mosaic dishes around and bird baths. We have lots of birds that come in — magpies, rosellas, a family of little yellow honeyeaters," Jayne says. Catch up on Gardening Australia's latest special 'A Passion for Plants' on iview.
SBS Australia
6 days ago
- Health
- SBS Australia
As Blak families worry for their kids, new research shows the importance of culturally safe care
Warning: this article discusses themes that may be distressing to some readers, including self-harm. New research has revealed the desperate need for culturally safe care for First Nations youth suffering with mental health issues. Figures from the National Family Mental Health Survey, conducted by headspace, reveal that a majority of Indigenous families are highly concerned for their young people's mental well-being. That compares with just 31 per cent of the wider population. Kadijah McPherson-Jabateh, a 22 year old living on Kaurna Country, knows first hand the struggle of mental health issues, as well as navigating the systems supposed to help. "As a young child, I came to the realisation very quickly that these systems weren't made for Black people," they told NITV. "They were made to oppress us." Encountering incorrect assumptions around substance abuse and their family structure, Kadijah said the lack of First Nations staff made them feel unsafe. "There was no mutual understanding ... these institutions have no idea of what it's like to live as an Indigenous person, and they never will." The same study revealed that First Nations families are actively using their community and networks to discuss mental health struggles at a higher rate compared to all respondents. However these discussions are not translating into seeking professional help through services. Jacara Egan is the head of operations for headspace's First Nations cultural practice and engagement. She says it's vital that Indigenous people feel confident they can avoid experiences like Kadijah's when they seek help. "When they ... have that bravery to take that step, they need to land somewhere that's culturally safe and responsive to their needs," the Muthi Muthi Gunditjmara woman told NITV. "Our family and our people are the experts in keeping themselves well, and we're really here to change the system to support them ... and support their young people." Muthi Muthi Gunditjmara woman Jacara Egan says working with ACCHOs is vital for providing culturally safe care. Ms Egan says headspace, the national NGO founded in 2006 to support youth mental health, has a number of services led by Aboriginal community controlled health organisations (ACCHOs). ACCHOs are proven to have high rates of retention and success in their wide ranging efforts to support Indigenous peoples' health and wellbeing. "We want to increase our ACCHO-led services," said Ms Egan. "We're guided by the community [and] by the evidence base and data around providing good social emotional wellbeing, good mental health care for our mob." Stigma, location pose significant barriers Jaclyn (not her real name) is an Indigenous grandmother living in Warwick, a rural town located in south-east Queensland. She says living remotely can pose unique challenges for those seeking help, especially young Blak kids. "Mental health doesn't discriminate, but often the experience of getting help does," she told NITV. "So my youngest son is 19, and has had significant mental health while he was at school. "Being a small community, in a rural community, it's extra hard as well ... the wait list is long for any psychological help. "The services are limited when you're in rural and even more so remote." A lack of access to services, as well as community pressure to be stoic, can have devastating results. "We've had a high rate of young people suicide in our community," said Jaclyn. Kadijah now works in the mental health space themselves, trying to combat the very misunderstandings they encountered as a young person. In their role with the First Nations Youth Advisory Council for headspace, they've seen positive changes. "It's not 100 per cent there yet, and I don't think we'll be there for a very long time, but I've definitely seen a positive switch," she said. "Social media is thriving. I'm seeing online support systems, I'm seeing people reach out via social media to connect with other young Black mob who are struggling. "At headspace, we have that Yarn Space option. Once a week you can hop online, speak to other Black kids around the country. "Everything that they've told me, it seems to be really hitting the spot with what we need. "But we could always do more."
