Come and see what can be achieved on an average sized suburban block. We are making the most out of our limited space by growing as much as we can vertically. This includes the expansion of a narrow nature strip that extends the native habitat front garden. Our front garden features ponds, sandstone boulders, rocks, log hollows, native flowers and edible plants for frogs, lizards, insects and native bees. Our native habitat is thriving and provides our young family with many opportunities to observe nature’s life cycles up close.
In the back yard, we have used hügelkultur to build raised garden beds. Hügelkultur is a permaculture method of making garden beds by layering logs, branches, leaves, and other organic plant debris with compost and soil. It’s cost effective and provides a rich supply of nutrients and moisture to growing plants. This is where we grow much of our fruit and vegetables. We have also converted under the clothesline area into a mulched growing space.
We practice several methods of composting/ waste management. These include worm farms, vermi-composting, layered cold composting, bokashi and in situ composting. We utilise these methods to keep all food waste out of landfill along with most of our ‘garden or green’ waste. We have three water tanks, solar power and battery. We use ollas throughout our garden for self-watering irrigation.
Ours is a relatively new garden and there are many projects we are still working on and in implementation phase. We look forward to sharing what we’ve learnt so far.
