Visit Chris and Corinne 19 February 2017

On Sunday 19 February the Food Garden Group visited Chris and Corinne's garden at Kingston Beach:

Rain had been forecast but that did not stop a good size crowd to come and see the delightful combination of food and ornamental garden that Chris and Corinne created on a steep block that was no more than a paddock five years ago when they moved in.

In order to overcome the considerable height differences between the front and back of their land, Chris and Corinne terraced their whole block and brought about an amazing transformation.

The result is visually very interesting. There is a small fruit tree area, a chicken run, olive trees, a pond, a compost area and many vegetable beds, combined with ornamental plants.

When I first saw this garden in October last year the area to the right of the driveway was just a narrow sloping gully with a mass of agapanthus and other wild plants. Since then this area has undergone a complete makeover and the result is more delightful terraced garden beds and pathways.

It is all irrigated with a combination of normal and thin drip lines.

The olive trees, now in their fourth year, are beginning to produce.

On the north side of the house is a brick wall that is used really effectively as a heat-bank for capsicums and eggplants. They were obviously happy here and inspired me to look for a north-facing wall in my garden, to try the same idea next year.

On a shady side of the house is a productive worm farm.

Many thanks everyone for your contributions to the produce table and morning tea. Things hardly touched the produce table before they were taken by someone, so this photo does not really show how much people brought and went away with.

People were interested in recipes of delicious things Loes (Zucchini Muffins) and Denby (Apple Spice Cookies) made. Both recipes can now be found on this blog.

Many thanks to Chris and Corinne for hosting this visit to their delightful garden. You showed us how a blank canvas can be turned into a very interesting productive garden.

This text was previously published on the Food Garden Group blog. It was written by Max Bee.