Come and see how we transformed a small townhouse garden in Parramatta into a mini food forest, growing plenty of herbs, fruit and vegetables for friends and family. At any one time we're growing 50-75 plants, including berries, citrus, natives, flowers and all kinds of herbs and vegetables.
Small space? Grow vertically! Hard clay soil? Compost and pots! Limited or too much sun? Grow the right plants for the conditions.
We've grown a grape arbor for shade in summer and sun in winter; it also keeps the birds away from the fig tree 🙂 We compost all our scraps and put it all back into the garden to improve the soil and reduce fertiliser use. We don't use any pesticides on the garden, instead using companion planting and maximising diverse species in close proximity. We've created habitat for local wildlife by letting groundcover plants like sweet potato and native commelina cynea ('scurvy weed') grow over the garden beds; both are edible and great in salads or cooked like spinach. We grow stevia as a natural sweetener, native saltbush as a great all-purpose seasoning and lemon verbena to add a citrus note to everything from biscuits, savoury dishes and tea.
Come and see what's possible.
