Britannia Community Food Forest

Louise Kaestner
Jan 11, 2025
3 min read

Source: Screenshot (2025).

Response from the Britannia Community Food Forest

The Britannia Community Food Forest is a community garden project in the City of Vincent in the Greater Perth Area. I received this response on December 31, 2024. This took a couple of emails as my original contact that I found on the community garden website was not the contact for the person running it.

What inspired you?

We took our inspiration from the availability of good nutrients (at first produced ourselves at the Community Composting Station, and then from the Council's FOGO program), as well as the availability of land (provided by Council) and the interest of local volunteers to plant and maintain a "food forest".

How long have you been running?

We started negotiations with the City of Vincent for access to suitable land for a food forest in 2021. We signed an agrement with the City of Vincent to use the land in February 2023, and we planted our first food trees in June 2023.

What was your original source of funding?

We obtained a $2000 grant from the City of Vincent, which enabled the purchase of a water tank and ~30 food trees from local nurseries. The City of Vincent also provided some additional compost and biochar for us to use when planting the trees.

How much was it?

$2000

What are your ongoing costs?

Ongoing costs include insurance (covered by Transition Town Vincent) as well as consumables at the food forest (eg, fertiliser and shade cloth to protect young trees).

How do you fund the garden now?

Transition Town Vincent run movie nights that attract donations, which covers insurance costs. The costs of consumables are often bourne by the volunteers themselves, or may be covered by Transition Town Vincent if funding allows. If/when additional plants are required, we will seek funding from the City of Vincent once again.

Any grants you recommend?

The City of Vincent Environment Grant has been very useful to the food forest.

What are your two best crops?

Our 2 best food trees (in terms of growth) have been Lilly Pilly and Fig.

What are your two worst crops?

All of our food trees have grown well, with the expection of 2 x Macadamia Nut trees, which both died.

Do you use fertiliser or worms?

We use some commercial fertilisers (general NPK blend and Seasol). We also use compost from the City of Vincent's FOGO program.

Do you use any Indigenous crop?

We have planted several native food plants, including Lilly Pilly, Burdekin Plum and Kurrajong.

What is one tip or trick you’ve used that has impacted your success in a positive way?

When planting the trees, we used a combination of compost and biologically activated charcoal ("biochar") inside the plant hole, which provided nutrients and water holding capacity to the soil. This was especially important during the first year of growth, and helped protect and nourish the plant roots during the long hot summer of 2023/2024.

What is one mistake in the garden you wished you’d never made?

Planting small/immature trees onto an exposed hillside without wind protection should be avoided!

Synthesis from the Britannia Community Food Forest Response

This community garden was cheaper to get up and running than Garden Gnome, which was my first response. Garden Gnome is located in the same shire as the Britannia Community Food Forest in the City of Vincent. It is obvious to see that if a local government is driven, inspired and passionate about creative, sustainable ideas that solve community challenges, they are easier to negotiate with. As with Garden Gnome, instead of focusing on the chemical component, they seek to create a healthy ecosystem, which is more sustainable and healthier for planet Earth and the people.

ccutress@gmail.com

ian.kininmonth@ttv.org.au