COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY
Buderim’s Urban Food Street
Nature strip gardening has seen a resurgence in Australia. by Martin Oliver
E
voking an association of ginger for many people, Buderim today has grown into an urban centre
on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. However, in recent years it has also become known in some quarters for a groundbreaking food production initiative known by locals as ‘Urban Food Street.’ Urban Food Street began in 2009,
when two neighbours were taken aback by the excessive cost of limes in the shops. Duncan McNaught and Caroline Kemp began by planting lime trees along their street verge, and this later expanded into other citrus. Their project has grown to take in a network of eleven streets, with a focus on the use of nature strips for growing a wide variety of vegetables, herbs, and fruit.
The only neighbourhood food cultivation initiative of its size in Australia, it has about two hundred families involved, and the numbers are growing. Some residents living in the project area are less focused on growing food, but they are encouraged to help in other ways such as watering. Urban Food Street operates on a
collective basis, without a defined structure. As there are no defined committee roles, bureaucracy and egos do not get in the way. Importantly, because it is entirely self-funded, governments cannot shut it down through funding cuts. With a Queensland subtropical
climate, bananas are an important crop, and one street is lined on both sides with banana trees. In 2015, roughly
900kg of bananas were harvested, and 2016 is likely to see this quantity double. The fruit is shared among local residents, who are free to pick anything that they find growing in the neighbourhood.When deciding on which crops to plant, one primary consideration is high yield, with ginger, turmeric, and avocados all chosen for this reason. Chemical-free growing techniques
are used, with a nod to permaculture (a food-growing movement that seeks to mimic natural ecosystems). A high level of plant biodiversity attracts birds that naturally control insect pests. The verge gardeners produce their own mulch, and recently installed a beehive to encourage vegetable pollination.
APRIL 2017 47
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
