The Mount Crosby food forest sits on a rural-residential block in the Western suburbs of Brisbane. It was a challenging western facing, sloped block with poor, acidic dirt and was growing more rocks than plants when we started. We also started gardening at the height of the drought in 2008.

Having moved from lush tropical north Queensland, where you can almost shove any cutting in the ground and they will leap out of the soil, to this relatively desolate block was a shock to the system. Getting the productive garden going was a real challenge fraught with many failures. We learnt a lot about growing from these early failures. In the hopes that others can learn from our experience, here are some tips for getting started and an overview of what we did and what we wish we had of known.

Our garden was built 5 minutes at a time, with two young kids underfoot and a flock of chicken ‘helpers’. There was no grand design scheme. It all started with a single potato planted in the dirt by a 3 year old. At the time I remember saying “that will never grow there”. Famous last words. It flourished and ultimately lead to the garden we have now.

Key considerations:

• Site assessment (sun, aspect, wind, slope, existing elements, drainage)
• Plant selection (shelter, stability, nitrogen fixers, perennials and annuals)
• Soils (carbon, nutrients, biota)
• Water management
• Garden maintenance

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Straight forward instructions for getting started in gardens big and small. Knowledge from real down to earth gardeners who walk the walk with busy lives and productive gardens.