Costa praises the power of Manoora Community Garden

Gardening guru hails the opening of Manoora Community Garden as a vital building block for good health and well-being.

ABC gardening guru Costa Georgiadis has made a passionate promise to tell the nation about the wonders of the Manoora Community Garden.

Speaking at today's official opening of the project built from the ground up on a spare block of council land near Rambutan Close, Costa described it as a "place of significance".

Workers employed in job-seeker roles by Neato Employment were instrumental in developing the community garden.

"This project is so exciting and I'm so lucky to be here today," Costa said.

"Just look at the potential of this space, look at all the land there. There is so much potential to link in with other groups and grow this space.

"I also know there is a plan to bring a mobile kitchen here to cook and share and deal with the produce.

"Don't underestimate what a cul-de-sac open block of land like this represents to the national movement for health.

"This is an enormous beacon of change for your community but also a wonderful opportunity of storytelling to be spread around the country, which is my role. I will wave the Cairns flag." 

The idea for a vegetable garden was first developed by a local advisory group as a way of healing the community in the wake of the Murray St tragedy in December 2014.

Support quickly gathered around the project, including Power of the Pallets, Neato Employment, Wuchopperen, the council and others.

The project will feature a mix of communal and personal garden plots with a range of fruit and vegies to be planted.

Costa urged local residents to get involved with the community garden.

"This garden is not an elixir or a short term fix, this is a real element that is grounded," he said.

"This is change and all of these people here at the opening have come here to witness change.

"I'm lucky because I get to come and see something like this. I'm an observer. And as an observer it didn't take take me long to see the gold bubbling up, the nuggets bubbling to the surface.

"I thank everyone for supporting it and urge people to come to this garden regularly.

"This is a really significant project that I will talk about in my travels.

"This is real, this is organic, and it is visionary."

For more details on the garden, click here to visit the Manoora Community Garden's Facebook page.