Growing an Urban Food Forest on Less Than 1/5 Acre – Autumn Garden Tour

Growing an Urban Food Forest on Less Than 1/5 Acre – Autumn Garden Tour

Welcome to my urban food forest garden in Perth, Australia. It’s currently the end of autumn, the mornings are finally starting to feel cooler, but we still haven’t had much rain….not since last year before the summer, so the garden is just hanging in there. Today, I want to share an update on my urban food forest progress and the wide range of fruit I’m growing in a small space!

🎥 Watch the full Urban Food Forest Garden Tour

YouTube video

Starting a Productive Urban Food Forest on Less Than 1/5 Acre

My garden is high-density, featuring over 200 types of fruit trees, as well as herbs and annual vegetables, all within a property of less than 1/5 of an acre in total. My goal is to have small amounts of many different types of fruit and be able to harvest fruit 365 days a year. This means I’ve said goodbye to spacing rules, utilised dwarf fruit trees, vertical gardening, learnt to multi-graft, and I keep my trees pruned to not only let light in but also create more green material to chop and drop and feed my soil.

I first became inspired by this style of gardening after creating an edible fence screen using food forest style planting in my backyard, which we will take a look at soon, but more recently, I have taken over the front! If you have been a regular YouTube subscriber, you would have seen the process of how we have transformed my front yard from a bare lawn to a mini high-density food forest with lots of tropical fruit trees, raised garden beds to grow annual veggies and a mini wildlife pond home to small fish and frogs. Below is a current update on where we are now!

 

Tropical Fruits Growing in my Front Yard

I started off this front garden by planting evergreen hardy fruit trees to create an edible screen that could withstand the temperatures out here. I have a lime, feijoa, blood orange, guava, mandarin, more feijoa and a lemonade. I have since gone in and added 3 mangos, an avocado, dwarf grimichama, mulch plants, nitrogen fixing plant and edible ground covers.

I have 4 different custard apples now planted, and I definitely have a passion for collecting new varieties of these. It’s a fruit that was rare back home in NZ, but we could grow the Cherimoya, and I was lucky enough to be introduced to that by a rare fruit grower when I was a kid. Now being in Perth, I am lucky enough to have the heat to grow more varieties, and I have (so far) Africa Pride, Paxton Prolific, Hilary White and a Bullock’s Heart, along with a bunch of seed-grown ones. These tend to lose their leaves a bit in winter, so they let light into my raised bed patch in winter, but in summer, they help keep it cool.

I have two different nashi pears, which are another favourite of mine and fruit well in warmer climates, unlike many other pears.

Some of the other fruit trees I have in the front yard include: Louisa Plum, unknown yellow Plum, multigrafted 4-way Plum (Satsuma, Mariposa, Santa Rosa, unknown), Indian Blood Peach, Lemon Mango, Orange Sherbet Mango, Sweet Tart Mango, Thai Mango, Linda Avocado, Choquette Avocado, Soursop, Starfruit, Lychee and more!

Living Shade: Building a Grape Arbour in Hot Climates

We have also constructed a metal arbour to grow living shade with x4 types of grapes planted. But with such intensely hot and dry summers, the grapes have not done much growing, but I am determined to make my dreams grape arbour happen!

What I’m Growing in my Raised Gardens this Autumn 🌱

I have only just planted out my raised beds (at the end of Autumn) with seedlings and seeds because it’s just been so hot and dry, it didn’t seem worth it. But the cooler mornings and with rain forecast for this weekend, I think we might be ready to start the cool-season crops.

Just like my fruit tree planting, I also densely plant my raised beds. This helps stop any weeds from growing and gives me lush garden beds full of food. Currently, I have planted:

as well as filling all the gaps with:

Edible Flowers for Beauty and Biodiversity

Edible flowers are a non-negotiable in my gardens. I love having the added colour as well as providing food for pollinators and beneficial insects. Plus, by choosing edible flowers, you can also use them to brighten up your meals. It’s a win-win.

Wildlife Pond: Attracting Frogs, Pollinators, and Beneficial Insects

The wildlife pond is getting a lot more shade now with the winter sun lower in the sky. The frogs have mostly disappeared as they go to find more sun or hibernate until warmer temperatures. There are still plenty of tadpoles, but I think these will stay like this until spring and summer because I believe they need more sun to transform. The wildlife pond has been one of my favourite projects out here in the front yard. There’s always so much wildlife to see, and it has become the main hub of my gardens to feed and nourish all my pollinators and beneficial insects.

The Driveway Patch: An Urban Food Forest Extension

Now for an update on my driveway patch! This was a new extension, and I have mainly planted deciduous fruit trees in here. This spot gets lots of hot sun during summer, but in winter, it gets a lot of shade. That’s why choosing deciduous fruit trees is a great idea. They go to sleep during winter, so they don’t mind at all.

I have planted a seed, growing papaya, and it is thriving! It has started flowing along with another 5 I have planted throughout the rest of my gardens. Papayas grow well from seed and quickly! In warm climates, you can go from seed to harvesting fruit in just 1 year! In cooler climates, you may have to utilise greenhouses for winter. My plan is that this will get nice and tall to act as a bit of a natural umbrella for summer.

Summer in Perth is relentless, and with many days over 40 degrees, this garden will very much appreciate an umbrella. I have been adding more shade plants like this throughout the garden to try and help cool my summer gardens.

Creating Shade and Microclimates in an Urban Food Forest

Using plants strategically is something I have been doing a lot in my gardens.

Creating shade: I have a miringa planted in the middle of my tropical section to create beautiful dappled shade for my Soursop, Starfruit, Lychee and Avocado. I also have native plants such as Hakea that grow in poor soil and have quickly become the tallest plants in my new garden. They offer shade and wind protection, plus stunning flowers that the bees love.

Creating Mulch: Mulch plants are another thing I have throughout my gardens that I use for shade, wind protection and then I can chop them back to let light in and feed the soil and act as moisture retention. These are plants such as Pigeon Pea and Queensland Arrowroot.

Backyard Food Forest Updates: Mangos, Papayas & Avocados

Out the back, my original food forest garden has been getting lots of upgrades. I have just planted another mango, this one is the ‘lemon zest’, I also have the ‘Irwin’ and the ‘dwarf palmer’. My biggest seed-grown papaya is flowering, and I am hanging out to see it start to fruit! With more plants starting to flower, hopefully, I get some pollination happening!

In my last video, we took out the lemon tree that was just getting hammered with gall wasp and planted a giant avocado. It’s already pushing new growth, which is a good sign.

Pomegranates are ripe, and I should have harvested them, but I left it too late, and something else has beaten me to it! This Pomegranate has multiple different varieties grafted on it, but so far, just the main Azerbajani has fruited. These are amazing, like nature’s candy!

My bananas are looking good, and the plantain has shot up! My Pinkerton Avocado is looking nice and bushy, and next to that, another seed-grown papaya that has just started to flower. The rollinia is looking rather sad but has started to push all new growth off the side so fingers crossed! Behind that, we have my golden passionfruit growing vertically along the fence and a small sweet granadilla down below that I am cautiously optimistic about.

Urban Nursery Corner: Seedlings, Grafting & Downsizing Goals

In my patio nursery, the shade cloth has come down for winter, and I am trying my best to find homes for as many things as I can in the garden. I want to downsize this a lot! I have lots of seed-grown plants here, like mango and custard apple, that I want to use for grafting practice, plus I have blueberries, finger limes and a lot of other things.

I hope you enjoyed this Autumn update of my urban food forest, and make sure you are subscribed to follow along with the progress!

Happy Gardening,

Holly 🌿

Links included in this post might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my blog so that I can continue to provide you with free content.

Urban Permaculture Garden Tour 2021

Urban Permaculture Garden Tour 2021

Autumn is often a slow time in my urban permaculture garden. Summer annuals are ending and the Winter seeds and seedlings are not yet up and running. There is a calmness to autumn which I love. I have filmed a new garden tour of my Urban Permaculture Gardens that you can watch below. For more garden tours and videos head over and subscribe to my YouTube Channel. That way you will get a notification each time I upload a new video (hopefully weekly!).

Here come the Feijoas!

Growing Feijoas here in Perth is a little piece of home that I cherish. They are the first fruit trees we planted here at our house and I have been lovingly caring for them for the past 5 years. Every year I get so excited and hope for fruit. They started producing in their 3rd year with just a couple of small fruit. The next year there was around 10 and this year there will be over 30. Hopefully now, each year there will be hundreds! Gardening definitely requires some patience, but it is so worth it in the end. I am celebrating this win!

What are Feijoas and Why Grow Them?

I definitely need to do a whole video on the Feijoa as they are one of my favourite fruit trees for any home garden. Feijoa or Pineapple Guava – Acca sellowiana is an evergreen fruit tree. They produce fragrant green fruit that are sweet and taste like a mix of pineapple /guava. Feijoa foliage is lush, thick, and grows quickly, which makes them a great option for a hedge or fence screening. Plus, an edible hedge is the best kind of hedge! They are also known to have fire retardant qualities so it can be a good idea to plant along with your fire-prone boundaries.

Most feijoa plants are self-pollinating, however, having multiple trees will increase your pollination rate and produce better yields. I highly recommend choosing named varieties rather than generic seedlings as they produce much quicker and better quality fruit. You can find these at your local fruit tree nursery.

Autumn Urban Permaculture Garden

My summer annuals have just about all finished with just some basil and capsicums holding on. All my winter seeds and seedling are in and are starting to take off with a little bit of recent rain. This can be a slow time in the garden but I do have some cross-overs with my fruit trees and perennials to keep my food production up. The Feijoa and Hawaiian Guava are starting to ripen and the Lemons are coming through thick and fast. I also have plenty of sweet potatoes which not only provide large tubers for eating but also bucket loads of edible leaves which can be a great substitute for spinach. The banana capsicums are still producing and I have lots of herbs such as basil, parsley, rosemary, and sage. So there are still plenty of meals to be made using my homegrown ingredients.

Edible Front Garden

My front garden has transformed from a pumpkin patch into a cabbage patch with lots of red cabbage and brassicas. I have also interplanted with rainbow chard and flowers. It is a great space for all my larger vegetables as they take up too much real estate in the pallet planters. The front fruit trees are flourishing and I have one blood orange fruit, 3 lemonades, and a million baby limes coming through.

urban permaculture garden
urban permaculture garden

Pallet Planter Boxes

The pallet planters are where I grow most of my annuals and quick-picking greens and herbs. These are great because I can move them about to get the best sunlight during the winter months. In summer I am busy doing the opposite and giving them shade from the burning heat! My pallet planters are all mixed in with lots of brassicas, rainbow chard, edible flowers, lettuce, onion, and Asian greens. I also plant radish in between all my crops because they are ready to harvest from seed in just 28 days, so they will be ready before the main crops are overcrowded. This is a great way to maximize space in a small urban garden. Plus it’s a great way to get some quick food during a slower transition phase in the garden.

urban permaculture garden
urban permaculture

It is important to take down notes at the end of a season and that way you can make improvements for the next one. I have created these seasonal gardening review sheets which have helped me establish when things fruit and where the gaps are in my food production.

Let me know if you would like to see more regular garden tours maybe Monthly?

Happy Gardening

Holly 🌱

MY GARDENING ESSENTIALS //
Fertiliser spray gun: https://bit.ly/366nL1t
Retractable Hose: https://bit.ly/2TSC0Bo
More gardening tools: https://bit.ly/32IQmbD

DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my page so I can continue to provide you with free content!