The Food Sanctuary Garden

Chook pen (it extends behind the plants, too)

There was a sign on the fence of a nearby house that there was an "Open Garden" day.  The house was quite small, but once inside, the display was indeed impressive.   True, the yard was not large, but it was packed with plants.   The information stated that 90% of all the plants were edible.   There were passionfruit, a fig, various beans, corn, tomatoes and rhubarb, but in addition there were a number of plants not known to me (and, apparently, not often found in Melbourne).  These included Queensland Arrowroot, Taro, and New Zealand Yam.  Other plants included perennial capsicum, lemon grass, a couple of young grape vines and a little water garden.   

Mixed in with all this was an old Hills hoist and a chook pen with two bantams.

I enquired about the whereabouts of the irrigation system.  No, there's none!   The garden relies on rainfall and run off from the house (the garden slopes away from the house) - and LOTS of mulch.    However, during hot weather, apparently a lot of hosing goes on!

All this in a compact area, overlooked by the neighbours but a world apart from the busy street outside.