LivinLightly Permaculture solutions for sustainable living

The Armidale Food Coop is situated in Armidale's CBD on Jessie St and had what can only be described as a bit of wasteland next to it that was used mostly for parking cars. They have recently had this converted to a courtyard surrounded by garden beds. In September LivinLightly took over managing the garden.

The Coop plans to put in more tables and seating and start offering drinks and some simple food items, in the hope that this space will be used by the community as a nice place to stop and chat.

As you can see, it is quite a challenging site. The left hand wall faces north and gets full sun all morning. I have planted 3 passionfruit vines (red, yellow and black) and 2 Goji berry vines, in an attempt to cover it and reduce glare.

The nearest bed is close to the road and gets sun almost all day. So I have planted rosemary, dwarf bearded iris, yarrow, 2 miniature peach trees and a nasturtium.

The opposite wall does not get any sun until the afternoon.

I have used almost entirely edible plants, except for the dwarf bearded iris in the foreground. In true permaculture style, many of the plants have been donated, either by myself or other Coop members.

This wall faces east and will be covered by 2 espaliered dwarf apple trees.

There are some ugly areas that need concealing. This area gets little sun, so I have planted common mint and Vietnamese Coriander. There was already an Acanthus there.

The shop front faces east and only gets early morning sun. I have planted natives in pots in the planter and plan to pave the area beneath.