Visit Fern Tree Maria and Michel 2025

This beautiful garden at Fern Tree on the lower slopes of Kunanyi provided a stunning setting for the final Southern Food Garden Group visit of the season. With extensive protected areas for food crops nestled among towering eucalypts and other native plants, we had a chance for a close up look at how two keen gardeners have managed the challenges of a steep site, cold climate, and extensive wildlife pressure to create a thriving and productive space for growing food. 

 

Hosts Maria and Michel moved to the property in 1999 and have built up the garden steadily over that time. The native soil on the steep block is rocky and hydrophobic, so they have concentrated on improving the soil in the productive areas of the garden using a mixture of compost, fertilisers, green manure crops, and mulch. 

 

Max introduces hosts Maria and Michel (and a chicken!)

Protecting the food gardens from the ever-increasing pressures from native wildlife is a major issue on this property. The previous owners had a small vegetable garden that was unfenced, but over Maria and Michel's first five years living here more and more wallabies moved in and feasted on the garden. The solution was an electrified fence around the veggie patch: a 1.2 metre fence with a single electric wire running off mains power (only turned on overnight). Michel describes the fence as "95 percent effective" - occasionally a motivated possum finds a way in and creates havoc - but on the whole it does a good job of allowing Maria and Michel an abundant harvest from this area. 

 

To accommodate their different gardening styles, Maria and Michel each have their own side of the vegetable garden.  Maria describes her style as more informal - she is happy to welcome volunteer plants that have self-seeded and to plant out new seedlings as spaces become available. The broccoli 'tree' is an example of her approach - this single plant has been growing for more than a year, and is continuing to produce abundantly. Michel prefers a self-described 'orderly' approach, planting out in rows and with an overall plan in mind, and tweaking his methods based on the results of previous crops.   For example, this year he has planted garlic in furrows running down the slope, rather than across, after observing that the plants had become a little water-logged in last year's wet spring. Both sides of the garden are highly productive.

Broccoli 'tree' on Maria's side

Rows of brassicas and garlic on Michel's side

      

Also within the fenced veggie garden is a hothouse, constructed by Michel and a friend from welded steel tubes and polycarbonate sheeting. 

The hothouse is home to a host of heat-loving veggies - tomatoes, basil, eggplants, chilies, and cucumbers - and allows them to thrive in the cool, sub-Alpine conditions of the garden. 

Maria and Michel produce much of the compost used in their garden in a two-bay compost system, conveniently located within the veggie garden.  

Outside of the veggie patch, the other major food production area of the garden is the large, north-facing berry cage on the eastern side of the property.

 

 

The cage houses masses of raspberry plants, which produced over 10 kilos of fruit this year.  There are also blueberries, and red and black currants enjoying this sunny and protected space.

Beyond the protected growing spaces, there are other food-providing plants found throughout the garden. Native Mountain Pepper trees thrive in wet forest habitat across the higher altitudes of Hobart, and Maria and Michel's garden has many of them, some deliberately planted but also several volunteers.  Pepper trees require both male and female plants for pollination of the berries, which are valued for both culinary and medicinal uses.  The ripe berries can be dried and ground for use as a (hotter) substitute for black pepper, or to infuse spirits (particularly gin).  The berries also have anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and antimicrobial properties, are a natural preservative, and can be used as an insecticide.  Native Pepper trees do well in shady spots and need some protection from direct sun as the leaves are easily sunburned.

 

 

 

A Tasmanian Apple Berry (Billardiera longiflora) grows in a shady spot at the front of the house. Its striking shiny purple berries fall from the vine when ripe and although, according to Maria, they don't taste quite as good as they look, they make a nice addition to salads.

 

The morning tea and produce tables were covered with interesting and delicious goodies - thanks to everyone for your contributions.

 

After wandering through the garden, there was plenty of time to catch up and chat over a cuppa, before the cold winds blew up and hurried us all to our cars.  Many thanks to Maria and Michel for welcoming us to their lovely garden. And special thanks to Max and Gaye for putting together another wonderful season of food garden visits.  See you in September!