This week on The Horti-Culturalists we were very luck to visit the wonderful Edible Forest in the Yarra Valley, just outside of Melbourne, a one acre, netted Food Forest where everything is planted for a reason, be it edible, medicinal, bird attracting or nitrogen fixing. A magical space that is open to the public and home to an interesting array of edible plants, some of which might come as a surprise! In this video we take a look at some of the plants that caught our eye, meet head gardener Jaimie Sweetman who explains the basic principles of this permaculture garden, meet a large lizard, delight in the design of the garden, eat a few things and learn just what Hügelkultur is! If you’d like to find out more about the Edible Forest, or arrange a tour, you can do so here: https://www.edibleforest.co/
A huge thank you to the team, and particularly head gardener Jaimie Sweetman, at the Edible Forest for making us so welcome, and for providing us with the most fabulous lunch!!
We mention a few plants specifically in this video, though there are MANY more we don’t:
Pseudocydonia sinensis – Chinese quince
Vitex agnus-castus
Campanula punctata
Polygonatum hybridum – Solomon’s seal
Smallanthus sonchifolius – yacón
Houttuynia cordata
Marsilea Drummondii – nardoo
Arbutus androsterilis
Disterigma alaternoides
Aronia melanocarpa – black chokeberry
And we also reference a few of our previous videos:
Water features and aquatic plants here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxtRBwKf75CVZ_bgRRXkFHKWdiOHh1gyG
How to grow Gunnera here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKbsj8gbm_o&list=PLxtRBwKf75CVZ_bgRRXkFHKWdiOHh1gyG&index=5&t=235s
Arbutus here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTF7EFRO8sk
Neotropical blueberries here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyrXJNL7Jrk&list=PLxtRBwKf75CVgy05AiBcHoIEL5pPq9eN-&index=26
Sambucus here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_fEiUzhjf0&t=61s
Edible Gardening
13 Comments
I have really enjoyed this episode, thank you.
That Aronia is quite the rare find growing wild in my neck of the woods (extreme Southern Illinois) while out with my botanizing friends last summer they found it growing on a bluff wall in a spot where it hadn’t been re-located in years, so thanks for pointing out it can be grown in the garden. I’ll pilfer some fruit from it this year and try and get one started. Your videos are very educational, I enjoy them
Thanx
One of your most interesting episodes. Thanks
What a great tour of the edible forest, gardens. Your videos always take us with you, along the paths and borders, sampling and learning, as we go. Bravo and thank you for sharing 💞🌟
Fascinating. Those Pseudocydonia fruits are much smaller than mine.
I have the red version of the Aronia in my US zone 5 garden. It is spectacular in the spring with loads of white flower clusters, goes blazing red in the fall, and the birds love the fruit. I have however always known it commonly as chokecherry 🤔
We loved having you onsite guys, please visit again soon!
Thanks Stephen and Matthew, What a great garden.
Monkeries 😂
Great video! I can proudly say, I did remember the Gunnera-story from the previous video! 😄I found it so funny and still is, especially the way Stephen tells it 😄🤷. Greetings, Judit
I was wondering what Australians thought of your Syzygium Australe (or others)? We call it Australian brush cherry and it grows in abundance here in Cape Town. It's a love it or hate it thing. While being jolly attractive and quite pleasant tasting (makes a decent jelly), every blessed seed that falls germinates and grows and it often fruits twice a year. The birds don't seem madly keen on them but I do 'browse' on the ones that are leaning over from my neighbour's property.
Gosh , they must not have those satanic vacuum cleaners called Possums. I tried a food and veggie garden here in Frankston it only took the little furry feeders a month to “ redesign ” my veggie garden into a desert.
Great episode I hadn’t heard of the edible garden but shall go. I have very well behaved houttuynia cordata as it is rarely watered in shade, doesn’t spread but doesn’t die either after 25 years of ignoring it 😮