traditional foods Archives - Permaculture Visions

Fit Native Foods

When we started growing native food plants, we thought these young plants would have similar needs to the others. But it turned out they were more hardy. And best of all, they grew in the shade of the fast growing fruit trees like Mulberry, Jack-fruit, Pear, Mango [and our 100 or so other trees.]

Old-World Exploration Within Modern World

Meet the world of underutilised native foods. These foods are growing in neglected areas out of reach of the suburban lawn-mower. Hidden from the chemical sprays of council workers, and laying low in ditches beside massive fields of cereal crops.

Native foods are resilient to their hometown soil and micro-climate. Some have fallen extinct, some have a precarious existence, but many native foods have enjoyed a renaissance. Many have been developed and are now commercially propagated and enhanced by programs of natural selection.

Best Reasons to Put Native on Your Plate

1. Culinary Joy

New foods can bring colour into our food pallet. Trying a new food can take us on a culinary adventure. Sadly, many of us walk past a native food without ever tasting it. Chefs all around the world are searching for ingredients that are out of the ordinary.
Worldwide there are more than 50 000 edible plants. Remarkably, three of these plants [rice, maize and wheat] provide 60 percent of the world’s food energy intake. Fresh native foods are rarely on our dinner plate.

Australian Native Raspberries – sweet and plump

2. Super Health Benefits of Eating Native

A lot of native foods are superfoods. They are vibrant in colour and rich in nutrients. Sadly these loud qualities can turn some cooks away. Many chefs are finding ways to capture the vibrancy and strong flavours. Western foods, such as Peas, enjoyed genetic selection and culinary attention for centuries. Native foods need chef-pioneers explore ways to harness the super nutrition and complement the bold flavours.

Native and non-native tea herbs growing happily together at Silk Farm

3. Growing Local Suits Us Locals

The greatest benefit of eating Native food is the boost to the environment. By growing indigenous foods, a farmer won’t need to alter the terrain as much. There is a species for wetland, another for zones that are high and dry. Nor will the farmer need to add chemicals or soil enhancers. The plants that are native don’t need specialist support. They know what they are doing and just need appreciation and room to grow.

The native birds will appreciate the habitat. Sure, they will eat some of the crop (as they already eat the non-native crops), but they will also return fertiliser, pick off insects pests and work to regenerate the land. All these factors build a richer food future.

cockatoo dropping a macadamia nut — cockatoo drops nut

Our Top Bush Tuckers

Finger Lime – Many of our friends hunger for this fruit. It performs well on the edge of a forest where it can get a little direct sunlight to form fruits.
Macadamia – the visiting children have learnt when they are ready to eat. They have a devoted smashing station made with two rocks. They look for slight blemishes on the shells. The pattern is mottled like a leopard skin. This develops when the fruit has fallen away and the nut has matured.
Native Raspberry – we select to grow the less seedy fruits. They deliciously tart and fruit nearly all year around but most importantly they are fruit over winter.
Dianella – Wollongong Uni Innovation Campus has the best we have ever tasted. And hardly anyone knows to eat them. These look stunning and taste great.
Walking-Stick Palm – small but delightful and easy to pick.
Anniseed Myrtle – Fantastic leaves for herb tea.
Sandpaper Fig (the skin is tough like a kiwifruit and the flesh is sweet). This grows to be a huge tree – so make sure it is not going to block the sun coming to your home or over your neighbour. It will help to hold the bank of a local creek or an area too steep for other uses.
Native Rosella – the flowers are like a soft lettuce. This is a short-lived delicate shrub. Shrubs and understorey plants that are edible are hard to find in a permaculture system – so this is a must in our food jungle.
Davidson Plum – strong bitter flavour, spectacular plant, erect and ferny with fine pastel pink flowers. It is also an understorey plant until it reaches maturity. The fruits fall when they are ready so keep a layer of soft mulch underneath to pillow their fall.
Sea grape – small fleshy fruits. Commonly grown in large areas like a steep bank.
Native Orange – the skin is tart but the flesh is perfumed and sweet. There is variation in the fruits on the single tree. This plant deserves to be cultivated and developed.
Lilly Pilly – The best Lilly Pilly my family has tasted are ones that were growing in the carpark of MacArthur Square Shopping Centre. It grows happily here too. Search for varieties with big purple fruits
Lemon Myrtle – good for herb tea and as a perfume. We were very happy for years with this Myrtle until we discover the Anniseed Myrtle. (Just personal taste).
Blueberry Ash – These fruits look pretty but a bit skinny in comparison with Dianella. A bonus is it fruits late in summer when other plants are having a rest.
Mountain Pepper – delightfully peppery leaves, loves growing here in part shade.
Native citrus
Pigface for flowers and edible stems
Native Leeks
Kangaroo Grass
Nardoo
Native Clumping Bamboo – we have successfully overwintered our first native bamboos from far north queensland and hope to support this crop in the solar traps of our food forest.

European limes, Davidson Plums, little Sandpaper figs and big pink Malay Apples

Recently, we went to IPCUK – International Permaculture Conference and Convergence in London. Permaculture Conferences are a great chance to exchange ideas and get a sense of where the movement is headed. This conference had a bright confident atmosphere and there was a deep sense of maturity and belonging at the convergence. Congratulations to Permaculture UK. The hosting association was strong, purposeful, empowered and well-organised with great teams and buckets of enthusiasm.

Great Cultural Icons

What I loved most about this conference was the was bright and tangible cultural flavour. Of course, the meetings were openly welcome for all the international delegates, but always there was a lovely English cultural flavour.

There was a touching sense of pride and value in:

Richard Webb sharing the knowledge of the landscape, pollarding and native foods. — Richard introduces us to centuries of pollarding

Native foods (such as apples, berries, cider, beer, sandwiches, cheeses)
Traditional folklore such as wreaths for crowning the hard-working-well-deserving volunteers, and traditions such as natural plant dyes. We enjoyed reading the landscape, learning about ancient forest animals, the shaping of the forest by horse riding, hunting and tree management.
The Arts – Theatre, poerty and song. Three Acres and a Cow did a fantastic play that sang about the clearances and the value of ‘a people versus the land.’ This made me surprisingly sad because I am descended from people those very same people who were undervalued and shipped off. Later, as I left the English Autumn, I realised how blessed I am that my people landed in a rich and creative culture. A behind-the-scenes session by Charlie MacGee was magical, personal and fun. I was so proud of you and pleased our little crowdfunding donation was very well spent in your early years!!

Epping forest, London IPUK delegates from Africa and Hong Kong marvel at the wasted abundance in a major city — Epping forest, London IPCUK delegates from Africa and Hong Kong marvel at the abundant wild food in a major city

Tributes to the local history: even the venues were of cultural significance. The Conference venue [The Quakers Friends house] is an old English Society that has changed the notion of peace around the world. The Convergence venue [The World Scout Headquarters] is also an English international movement and has taught many young people world-wide life skills. (including myself). We enjoyed a guided talk through Epping forest by permaculture teacher, Richard Webb. It was great to see these cultural icons. (people, traditions and places)

A Clear Future for the Permaculture Movement

Kerri-and-I — Keri Chiveralls (left) is heading up a Permaculture Graduate Diploma with world-wide recognition.

Since the last Permaculture International Conference and Convergence (IPCUK ) a lot of social aspects of the movement have been developed. The movement is getting more skilled at finding the balance between people care and earth care.

On the grass-roots level we are seeing a lot of strategies that were once touted as alternative-living or hippy practices (composting, solar power, growing your own food, supporting local markets, fixing things and having a go at doing-it-yourself) now recognised as common-sense and even good business strategies.
There is strong direction in building the evidence-based research and a world-wide research community to investigate, document and publish findings. There is also incredible growth in permaculture education at university level (The new Permaculture Design and Sustainability Program at CQUniversity looks very exciting).
The education and training for people of all walks of life and backgrounds is also expanding and a clearer map is forming of global best-practices which include mature and bountiful demonstration sites and communities.
Finally, the most promising development for me was the emergence of co-operation, overcoming the competitive corporate thinking that rules most of the western world and building a new community of resilient, intellectual harmony.

Co-operation on The World-Wide Permaculture Stage

The Next-Big-Step project got hundreds delegates together listening to one another and

Andy and Naomi presenting the Next Big Step goals. IPCUK — Andy and Naomi & The Next Big Step.

talking about their passion and challenges and we saw the beginning of a plan to bring permaculture together as a truly cohesive, aware (documenting one another’s projects: successes, failures and goals) and well-researched movement. Here is a link to their working papers if you want to be involved.

This Convergence demonstrated the incredible potential of co-operative projects rather than competitive permaculture. Competitive behaviour will sometimes rears it’s ugly head in permaculture This is all part of a democratic, empowered society. It was a joy to see the maturity of a movement that can sit together and learn from one another regardless of how famous or successful each individual has become.