Edible Gardens

Growing Food, Building Resilience

Edible gardens, often called kitchen gardens, are designed to produce food for home or community use. They can be as simple as a few pots of herbs on a balcony or as expansive as a productive vegetable garden, orchard, or food forest. Regardless of scale, edible gardens reconnect people with where their food comes from and how it is grown.

The benefits of edible gardens extend well beyond fresh produce. Growing food at home or in shared spaces supports healthier diets, reduces food waste, and strengthens local and sustainable food systems. Edible gardens also provide valuable opportunities for learning, wellbeing, and connection to nature, seasons, and community. For many people, tending a garden becomes a grounding and rewarding practice that builds confidence and resilience.

Establishing a successful edible garden requires thoughtful planning. Choosing the right location, understanding soil health, and selecting plants suited to local climate conditions are key to long-term success. Sustainable practices such as composting, water-wise design, organic pest management, and seasonal planting not only improve yields but also support healthier soils and ecosystems.

Edible gardens can be integrated into a wide range of settings, including backyards, schools, community spaces, workplaces, and rural properties. Each garden can be tailored to suit available space, skills, and goals, whether that’s supplementing household food, supporting education programs, or building community connection.

How CREATE Ecology Can Help

Create Ecology supports individuals, schools, councils, and organisations to design, establish, and maintain productive, sustainable edible gardens. We take a practical, site-specific approach, considering soil health, water use, plant selection, and long-term management to ensure gardens are resilient and achievable.

Whether you’re starting small or planning a larger community or educational garden, we can help turn ideas into productive landscapes that nourish both people and place.