5. Good Organic Gardening - September-October 2016 AvxHome.in

AMAZING GARDEN | Urban Food Street
Holistic urban
design for people
Caroline and Duncan set out to challenge
conventional urban design by retrofitting
suburban landscapes as edible ones. As
Caroline explains, “Sustainability is rarely
understood holistically, to the scale of the
suburban neighbourhood. We end up with
car-centric outcomes.”
There is, however, one significant
advantage in this part of Buderim: the streets
have retained their historical precedent.
Instead of channeled kerbing, where water is
directed to the ocean via creeks and rivers,
they have grass swales right to the road’s
edge. Swales enhance the sustainability
credential of this neighbourhood, as water is
captured, slowed and filtered back into the
underground water table.
This water is now being used on the
fruit trees and gardens growing along the
strip, significantly reducing irrigation costs.
Says Caroline, “We’ve retrofitted our urban
environment for improved sustainability.
We’ve introduced new purpose to the
seldom-utilised ‘threshold’ space — that
is, the great Australian nature strip — by
introducing edible plants.”
This neighbourhood initiative is a perfect
example of the potential for “our suburbs
to host tangible no-food-miles produce,
through edible landscapes that are public in
nature”, Caroline eloquently explains. Under
the founding pair’s guidance, the residents
of UFS have collectively created a resource
that is “grown rather than mown, offering a
delightful taste of this suburban food bowl’s
green urban future”.
The streets of this unique neighbourhood
have become pedestrian friendly. In the
evening, whole families venture out onto the
streets, children pick produce or play games,
while neighbours interact with one another.
Many yards are without fences. Instead, edible
and ornamental gardens seamlessly bridge the
gap between the front yard and the nature strip.
The “edible landscape” is
the green urban future
Last year, Urban Food Street produced 900kg of
bananas and 300 cabbages. There are at least 20
fruit species of differing varieties and there are 46
olive trees in total for future olive oil production.
Recently, the neighbourhood children planted
over 50 blueberry bushes.
Pumpkins are pollinated
by blue banded bees
The fruit of a dwarf avocado tree
Duncan and Caroline with
neighbours on Banana Street
64 | Good Organic Gardening