OCULUS Sydney recently visited IndigiGrow for a day of listening, learning and volunteering at their La Perouse nursery.

Our morning was spent listening to IndigiGrow CEO Peter Cooley's backstory and the origins of the organisation before touring the nursery and discussing the amazing work that IndigiGrow and First Hand Solutions do. Their mission is to deliver positive environmental projects through research and rejuvenation of endangered plants, creating carbon credits through mass plantings, improving the general atmosphere and amenity of industrial and urban precincts, and providing retail and wholesale native plants for sale.

Their extensive collection of native bush foods and endemic Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub is critical not only to the longevity of some of these species, but also to the continuation and passing on of Indigenous knowledge, practices and culture.

In the afternoon we rolled up our sleeves to move, weed and plant our way through nursery tasks. We were grateful to be outside lending a hand, and happy we didn’t cross paths with any of the resident brown snakes!

After purchasing some of our own endemic species to plant at home, we departed with soil beneath our fingernails and a new appreciation for grassroots community organisations.

Hopefully the day was just the beginning of a long relationship between IndigiGrow, First Hand Solutions and OCULUS. We will certainly be on the lookout for future opportunities to work with Peter and his team as we continue our own journey of listening and learning about this Country and the deep connections Indigenous people have with it.

We would like to thank Peter and the entire IndigiGrow and First Hand Solutions team for a fantastic day.

This event formed part of OCULUS's summer research focus on 'Connection to Country'.

— Rohan Buckley (Senior Associate) & Brittany Johnston (Landscape Architect)