From little things

In 2008, my husband, Todd, and I bought a neglected, rocky, sloping, western-facing block on Yuggera Country, in the semi-rural outskirts of west Brisbane. It was at the height of the drought, and what was left of the 0.8ha property’s gardens was weeds and tall, established eucalyptus trees. We had relocated from the tropical rainforests of Far North Queensland, and the challenge seemed daunting. But 15 years on, our formerly dry and weedy block has been transformed into a productive food forest and emerging wildlife habitat.

The transformation has been slow but steady. We worked on it when we could, often five minutes at a time, around young children, jobs, and drought followed by floods. With the support of a wonderful growing community, and partnerships with organisations such as Food Plant Solutions (an educational resource dedicated to promoting nutritious plants) and Paten Park Native Nursery (a not-for-profit community nursery), we have reshaped our site into a productive, low-maintenance garden. It’s now full of hundreds of edible perennial plants from across Africa, South America, Asia, the Mediterranean and the Pacific, as well as many wonderful Australian natives.

Our diverse food forest is made up almost exclusively of edible perennial plants (herbs, natives, fruit and nut trees) nestled among companion plants (including aromatic herbs and legumes) in a stable and protective landscape resilient to pests, diseases and climatic changes. As you walk along the meandering paths, you pass under fruit trees, including the exquisite black sapote (Diospyros nigra), native mulberry (Pipturus argenteus) and delicious tree tomatoes or tamarillos (Solanum betaceum), intermixed with an understorey of peanut butter bush (Bunchosia glandulifera), exotic jaboticaba (Plinia cauliflora) and the highly nutritious sweet leaf (Breynia androgyna).

Climbing plants, including abundant Madagascar (lima) bean (Phaseolus lunatus), sweet and juicy passionfruit (Passiflora edulis and P. edulis var. flavicarpa) and productive winged yams (Dioscorea alata),
ramble over shade structures. Weeds are almost non-existent, thanks to a dense groundcover of nutritious edible herbs such as Brazilian spinach (Alternanthera sessilis), sambung spinach (Gynura procumbens) and Okinawa spinach (Crassocephalum crepidioides). A living mulch of strongly aromatic mother of herbs (Coleus amboinicus, also called Mexican mint) and dogbane (Coleus caninus syn. Plectranthus caninus) helps deter pests.

To support our plants during hot summers, we’ve used ponds, shade and water-holding plants to cool the soil and raise the humidity. To combat winter shading caused by the north-western aspect of our block, courtyards and deciduous climbing plants have also been incorporated into the landscape. Almost everything built into the garden has been recycled or repurposed, be it old bricks for the paths or bathtubs for the many ponds and wicking beds.

The extensive network of ponds is one of the most successful features of the garden, both in terms of food production and as wildlife habitat. The ponds host water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis), taro (Colocasia esculenta), Lebanese cress (Aethionema gradiflorum var. grandiflorum), pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata), native river mint (Mentha australis), water parsley (Oenanthe javanica) and kangkong (Ipomoea aquatica) in abundance, along with many habitat water plants. During the day, the ponds provide water for birds, bees and other busy insects. And when you venture out into the garden at night, you’re rewarded with a cacophony of native frogs, including the distinctive ‘tok tok’ of the striped marsh frog (Limnodynastes peronii).

Living in a key wildlife corridor, we have devoted more than half of the property to the Brisbane City Council’s Land for Wildlife program. As well as benefiting the environment, this has also assisted with our edible crops. Rather than competing with the native wildlife for food, we’ve planted forage for them, including native lillypilly (Syzygium smithii) and plumbago (Plumbago auriculata), both of which are in
flower in the winter and dry spring when native animals are particularly hungry and would otherwise ravage the edible garden.

One of the true joys of our garden has been watching the children and the garden grow up together. However, gardening with young children isn’t always easy. As a result, our garden is the culmination of daily short sessions. Whether it’s laying down a couple of wheelbarrow loads of mulch or a few pavers, little by little, our garden has expanded to the half-acre food forest it is today.

Careful plant selection, strategic shading and optimal water management has resulted in a garden that mostly takes care of itself, requiring only an hour or so of pruning, mulching, composting or watering each week to keep it going. Producing our own food gives us a great deal of pleasure, and we enthusiastically share our gardening knowledge through local crop swaps and community gardens.

Read more about Ketah’s garden and get free online information at brisbaneediblegardening.org

Words by Ketah Silvester
Header photo by Matt Horniblow