Sowing and harvesting stories in the RAW Garden

I have a deep love of gardens and gardening. Actually, its hard to say the order of preference; I think bike riding, bird watching, gardens and storytelling are all level passions.

Little wonder that Mariam Issa and I should have found each other.  Mariam is a lover of stories, language, good conversation and gardening. Mariam is the co-founder of the RAW Garden. The garden is her back yard but its open to the community who share in its bounty and hospitality.

These photos were taken on a cold winter's afternoon. My colleagues from Storytelling Australia Victoria have been telling stories on the first Sunday of the month. Today Clare Coburn began the session with stories as well as singing and reciting poetry.


Following Clare, Abshiro Farah presented Shah and Sheeko (tea and stories). Sweet spicy tea and cakes were just the beginning.

Abshiro is working on translating stories from her childhood into English and we were privileged to hear the first one.
These gatherings at the Garden only began this year and yet the friendships and creative alliances have formed quickly and are bearing fruit.

The garden is looking wonderful; the plants are mostly asleep for the winter, except the citrus which are laden with oranges and lemons. The chooks are as cheeky as ever.

Abshiro and I are going to work on her stories together. There is much I will have to learn about Somalian language to do the work justice.