How to plan your produce garden

Start by taking a walk around your garden and getting a feel for the space. Take note of where north is, as north-facing areas receive the most sun throughout the day. (Direct sunlight helps plants achieve optimal growth.)

Also ensure that your garden is set in a convenient location, to make caring for your plants as easy as possible.

Along with lots of sun, plants need plenty of water to thrive. Set up your garden in a place that has easy access to water. You might want to install a rainwater tank or a drip irrigation system to make watering easy and efficient.

Another option is to build wicking-style beds. This is a type of garden bed where the water is drawn up from the bottom of the bed by the growing plants. There’s no water loss due to evaporation and no water wastage as the plants use only the water they need.

Consider how you’ll protect your produce from pests. Installing a fence around the garden will help keep wildlife and family pets out of the garden. You can build it so that it matches the surrounding fence colour, blending seamlessly into the garden.

With clever planting, you can produce food in any amount of space. Creepers like passionfruit can be planted to grow over the fence, for example. Or make the most out of vertical space by growing things like snow peas and tomatoes on plant trainers.

You can even grow fruit trees in small spaces by using the espalier method and training them to grow against a wall or fence. Flowers are also important in food production gardens – they attract important pollinators like bees and butterflies.

After you’ve enjoyed the fruit of your labours, you’ll have peels, leaves and offcuts leftover. Don’t throw them in the bin. Instead, pop them into a compost bin or worm farm and use them to add nutrients back into the soil. In a worm farm, the worms eat the scraps and make ‘worm tea’ that you can pour onto your growing plants as a tonic.

You can also think about getting chickens (if your council allows them) as they eat lots of plant pests for breakfast…and lunch, and dinner. They also eat fruit and vegie scraps. Chickens help fertilise the soil, too, and – as a bonus – you’ll get to eat their delicious eggs!