Hobart’s melting pot
The Edible Precinct is a new public space bringing community together
The Hobart waterfront is a bustling working port and tourist mecca. Heritage buildings and fish and chip shops encircle a moving feast of freight ships, fishing boats, yachts and cruise liners. Adjacent is Macquarie Point, a post-industrial conglomeration of rail yards, port facilities, warehouses and cool stores. For years, it has been the less scenic end of the harbour. But an ambitious new garden initiative, the Edible Precinct, is transforming this concrete-filled site into a fruitful, green, inspiring and informative space for the people of Hobart.
Wooden planter boxes overflow with an assortment of edible plant species in what is becoming a hub of urban farming and community gardening activity. The idea is to teach people how to grow food at home using sustainable methods, and to create a sense of place and connection between the local environment and community.
growing together
The Edible Precinct site is home to the Palawa people, the traditional custodians of Tasmania for thousands of years, and to honour this history, the project encourages reconciliation, with community members coming together to respect and share knowledge while working and growing food. Throughout the garden, you’ll see traditional plant foods used by the Palawa grown alongside food crops that were introduced by the Europeans. For example, the little-known Tasmanian strawberry pine (Microcachrys tetragona) is planted beside the exotic European strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa). Similarly, the Tasmanian round-leaf mint bush (Prostanthera rotundifolia) and delicate river mint (Mentha australis) share space with exotic species such as spearmint, chocolate mint and apple mint.
It has been very difficult to identify most of the Tasmanian plant species with their traditional Palawa names, as much of this knowledge has been lost, but the Palawa people are making a considerable effort to resurrect these names. In the meantime, Latin botanic names and English common names are being used.
The Edible Precinct brings together people with diverse expertise and a passion for gardening, growing food and helping the community, and education is a major focus. Kitana Mansell, granddaughter of renowned Palawa leader Michael Mansell, is an Aboriginal Business Trainee at Macquarie Point (commonly known as
Mac Point) and an active participant in the Edible Precinct project. She conducts tours for interested visitors and community groups and, together with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, is bringing her cultural knowledge to this evolving project.
Tino Carnevale, born and raised in Hobart, has been growing produce here for many years and has a deep familiarity with the local environment. Tino brings a wealth of knowledge of fruit, vegies and other edible produce, while I contribute my skills as an Australian plant expert. Tino and I recently ran a series of workshops at the site on growing summer vegetables, from preparing and planting, through to harvesting and composting.
sustainability & community
The design of the Edible Precinct garden demonstrates environmentally friendly urban farming methods while integrating unique aspects of Tasmania’s horticultural heritage. The garden beds are old wooden apple-picking bins – a symbol of Tasmania’s famous apple orchards – that have been repurposed into wicking beds. They have a water reservoir, and water is drawn up into the soil to the plants’ roots by capillary action, or wicking. It’s more water-efficient than irrigating from above, as it reduces evaporation from the soil’s surface.
Wicking beds are perfect for creating an urban garden on a former industrial site where the soil is contaminated with heavy metals and fuel spills. They have allowed us to turn a disused concrete sprawl into an edible urban landscape within a year. A potting mix designed to retain its structural integrity for years has been specially formulated by soil scientist Simon Leake.
To ensure the ongoing sustainability of the Edible Precinct, various composting methods are used to recycle as much of the organic waste from the Macquarie Point area as possible. Shredded paper and cardboard is mixed with food waste from cafes, restaurants and offices, hair clippings from Eye Am Hair salon, and grain waste from Hobart Brewing Co.
Also, worm farms generate solid and liquid organic fertiliser for the garden beds.
In turn, the Edible Precinct supports organisations such as the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (via its Aboriginal Health Service), Bethlehem House for homeless men, and Migrant Resource Centre Tasmania, which regularly harvests the garden’s indigenous and exotic crops to cook meals for members of the community. Now, another 70 planter boxes are being added, and collaborations extend to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens and Mona (Museum of Old and New Art). Come on down and check out the Edible Precinct for yourself!