The Seed Garden is a collaboration with Indigenous horticulturalist, Kris Schaffer for the Salamanca Arts Centre to create a garden on a disused and neglected concrete site in the Centre grounds. The garden began with a response to its context – the site of the first major quarry in Tasmania which reshaped the landforms of Sullivan Cove and the rich coastline that was inhabited by the muwinina peoples for many, many years before colonisations.

The resulting garden is one that we hope creates a space for presence, care and learning. In developing the concept for the garden we observed that there are frequently children in this space, seeking out the potential for play, movement and detail. We invited the children of the New Horizons Preschool to share their responses to the site and its context. They shared their approaches to learning using the Reggio Emilia approach and we identified that the circle as a motif for connection and learning repeated itself.

The foundation of the seed garden is a circle of dolerite bolders from Dromedary. Dolerite being the stone that was quarried and used to reclaim land, forming the city of nipaluna / Hobart as we know it today. The gesture of bringing back stone into the garden has been pivotal in forming the garden. We have planted with indigenous Tasmanian plants, many local to the area. We hope this small garden provides a place for conversation, learning, connection and play.