IN THE BUSH FOOD GARDEN – WINTER 2026

Report from the BUSH FOOD garden, AUgust 2026

Successes

Both of our ‘Five Corners’ plants are putting out their lovely tubular flowers, which will hopefully be followed by edible berries in spring. Five Corners (Styphelia viridis) is part of the endangered ‘Eastern Suburbs Banksia Shrub’ plant community, and we’re very pleased to be doing our bit for its reintroduction.

The sandpaper fig has been productive this year, and if you haven’t sampled its small fruits yet, they’re worth a try. They’re tastiest when very ripe, and dark purple.

Our ‘Peter’s Thornless’ raspberry (in the bed near the back gate) is also covered in flowers, with fruit not far behind.

Challenges

Several new river mint plants (Mentha australis) purchased in late May initially thrived in a ‘wicking’ trough pot, but were suddenly and mysteriously decimated overnight a month ago – by rats or birds or who knows what. Now protected with wire mesh, it is growing back well.

Our native rosella (Hibiscus heterophyllus) is not looking very healthy. We believe it may have reached the end of its life – it’s described as a “short-lived perennial shrub with a typical lifespan of about 2 to 5 years”. We will see if it comes back in spring after a more substantial prune, but a cutting is being cultivated, with an eye on succession.

Activities

The native mulberry has been cut right back. We do miss its presence, which did a lot to soften the look of the steel ‘box kite’ structure. We hope it responds with some vibrant new growth, which we will keep tamed so we can still enjoy its unique fruit – and the bed itself gets more sun.   

We are trying to start some seeds of the fleshier variety of murnong or yam daisy (Microseris walteri) which we sourced from Black Duck Foods. No luck with germination yet but we will persevere, and may have more success as the weather warms.

Otherwise, lots of pruning has been going on across the other trees and shrubs.