On an ordinary suburban block in Melbourne is a garden overflowing with edible herbs, fruits, flowers and vegetables. KAREN SHAW visits a woman intent on turning every square centimetre of yard into food.
Meet Karen Sutherland, a woman on a mission to change her garden into an edible oasis. She is already on her way, with more than 150 herbs, vegetables and fruit trees thriving on her block in Melbourne’s Pascoe Vale South. Karen rarely visits the supermarket because she grows enough vegies and fruit to be almost self-sufficient. What isn’t used straightaway is dried and preserved. A stroll around the carefully designed landscape takes time because Karen loves telling stories about the plants, their medicinal value and which ones can be used to make flavoured teas.
Plants with many uses
First there’s the Dittany of Crete oregano (Origanum dictamnus) growing in a pot by the verandah. It came as a cutting from a Greek neighbour. The flowers are terrific in tea and the leaves are bitter. A path leads past orange thyme (Thymus vulgaris ‘Fragrantissimus’), and a collection of potted mints – all perfect for teas. “I keep the mint in pots, so they don’t spread out of control,” Karen says. A central island bed is planted with alpine strawberries, which make a great groundcover and produce delicious fruit. Next to them is a clump of sweet violet (Viola odorata). Karen uses the leaves and flowers in salads or for tea. “It’s good for cleansing lymph glands,” she says. Also valuable as a herbal medicine is the spring blossom of the elderflower tree (Sambucus nigra) in the backyard. Karen says European gypsies didn’t burn this plant as they found every part of it useful.
Raspberry vines yield enough berries for weekly punnets in summer, and the fruit of the thornless blackberries are huge. A healthy-looking pepino bush is covered with flowers and fruit that taste similar to rockmelon. It’s a great addition to have in the garden throughout winter. A hedge of strawberry guava surrounds an outdoor dining area providing privacy as well as tasty fruit high in vitamin C. Other delights include strawberry-flavoured grapes, and a patch of cool-climate bananas. “I’m keen to see how the bananas go,” says Karen of the experiment.
“I’ve heard it’s possible, even in Melbourne.”
Elsewhere, a heat-tolerant rosemary called ‘Blue Lagoon’ grows next to some wild rocket with bright yellow flowers. A carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) provides shade but has no pods. “There is some doubt as to whether it’s a male or female tree,” explains Karen, “and you need both to produce pods.” There are plans to graft whatever sex is necessary onto the tree so it can produce in the future. A delightful row of espaliered feijoas (Acca sellowiana) is a clever way to conceal a plain, wooden paling fence and also provide a living screen between Karen and her neighbours. The feijoas are underplanted with society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) and are positioned in a hot, dry spot that’s barely 30cm wide and about the same in depth. “It was all about moving away from having a camellia hedge,” Karen says. “The feijoas are very tough and have the added bonus of producing fruit.”
For Karen, gardening has always been a passion. She completed a horticultural apprenticeship at Melbourne Zoo and has run her own landscape gardening business for more than 20 years. But about three years ago the fun started to wane. “I did some soul-searching and realised the only time I was really excited was when I was talking about growing fruit and vegetables,” she explains. She channelled this passion into her business, and now uses her backyard as a classroom to teach others the basics of growing food crops. “It’s gone crazy,” she says. Her two-hour lessons focus on topics such as ‘herbs for the kitchen and wellbeing’ and ‘ornamental edible design’. Each class caters for up to 12 people, who each get to sample herbal tea from the garden, and take home a packet of Karen’s home-grown seeds. For example, Karen leaves ‘Delta Louisa’ snow peas to mature, and these are then collected and stored to give away or replant the following year. The vegie patch has Preston bush beans, capsicum and a lemon licorice mint (Agastache foeniculum). This mint grows well in the shade and its purple flowers attract bees. The leaves have a strong flavour that’s great for tea.
Karen loves to push the boundaries and try out plants that are hard to grow in Melbourne’s cool climate. A real coup is a tea jasmine (Jasminum sambac), which usually grows in the tropics. The flowers have a beautiful fragrance and, as the common name suggests, are used to give jasmine tea its flavour and scent. Experimentation is a constant theme. Karen has been searching for a cheaper alternative to the vertical gardens now on the market. Her design is about 50cm2 and made from hessian and chicken wire filled with potting mix and coir. It hangs from a piece of bamboo, and spills over with healthy herbs that follow different recipe themes. A favourite is chocolate mint, apple mint and wild strawberries.
Using water wisely
Another surprise in this little oasis is an aquaponics system that’s taken more than a year to establish. It’s a plan that means in about six months’ time Karen will be harvesting her own fish. She designed the system herself. It consists of a 1000L tank, above which are two troughs, called grow beds. These are filled with scoria and planted with lettuce and herbs. The 1m-wide tank is home to about 50 silver perch and a few goldfish. Wastewater from the fish is pumped up into the grow beds, and beneficial bacteria on the scoria helps convert the fish waste into nitrogen for the plants. Karen is excited that it’s all finally working. “It’s taken a long time to get it right,” she says, “but I’ve had helpers from the aquaponics society.” Karen also has rainwater tanks that collect and store about 40,000L and she operates a greywater system – useful for watering plants during the dry summer. You can’t visit Karen’s garden without being inspired. Her energy is infectious, and she loves to experiment. For her, it’s all about creating what she describes on her website as “a new (sub)urban garden – one that feeds us body and soul”.
I realised the only time I was really excited was when I was talking about growing fruit and vegies. Karen dries the flowers of Russian garlic to try growing the seed. Seeds collected from the garden are planted the following season or given away to friends and class participants. A bunch of strawberry flavoured grapes called ‘Fragola’, which is Italian for strawberry, are a highlight. The thornless blackberries provide abundant and sweet-tasting fruit. Soft-shelled almonds are a rich source of calcium and antioxidants.
These experimental vertical gardens are the perfect way to grow herbs. Babaco, a relative of the pawpaw, produces a sweet, seedless fruit. In six months, Karen will be eating fish from her aquaponics system. The grow beds above the tank filter the water. Karen’s top five teas Karen’s garden is a dream for herbal tea enthusiasts. Here she suggests some of her favourites for readers to try at home.
Crunch or tear leaves, because this helps release oils when you add water. Before using seeds, always grind them up in a mortar and pestle first. For herbal teas, it’s best to use a ceramic or glass teapot; a metal pot affects the quality of the herbs. Add boiling water and keep the lid on to retain the essential oils. Steep tea for 3–5 minutes and enjoy!
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