How to transform a sandy suburban block into a thriving food forest

🌿 Thanks for joining me at Jetto’s Patch! Enjoy this Suburban Food Forest Tour (1/2 Acre, 200+ fruit trees) and DOWNLOAD this PDF for a summary of the garden and design tips. https://bit.ly/sand-to-food-forest-PDF

_________________

Join me, Morag Gamble — permaculture teacher and founder of the Permaculture Education Institute — as I walk with Michele through her extraordinary urban food forest in Maida Vale, Western Australia. Known as Jetto’s Patch, this half-acre suburban block is packed with more than 200 fruit trees, layers of herbs, vegetables, pollinator plants, and self-seeding greens.

Michele shares how she and Dario transformed pure sand into rich, fertile soil with mulch and compost, created shade with vines and trees, and designed a garden that produces food year-round — from bananas and pecans to potatoes and brassicas. Along the way she reveals recipes, garden tips, plant information, and permaculture design ideas you can try at home.

💬 What inspired you most about this tour? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
___________________________

🔔 Subscribe to Our Permaculture Life Youtube Channel for more permaculture tours, tips & tutorials.

If you’d love to start or deepen your permaculture journey, explore my courses at the Permaculture Education Institute:

👉 The Incredible Edible Garden
(https://permacultureeducationinstitut...)

👉 Permaculture Design Certificate (https://permacultureeducationinstitut...)

👉 Permaculture Educators Program (https://permacultureeducationinstitut...)

📸 Follow along on Instagram: @permacultureeducationinstitute
___________________________

🌱 Huge thanks to Michele & Dario Franzinelli - you can find them on Facebook:
👉 Michele:   / michele.franzinellijettospatch  
👉 Dario:   / dario.franzinellijettospatch  
👉 Jetto’s Patch:   / jettospatch  
___________________________

FILM CHAPTERS
0:00 – Introduction
1:30 – Welcome to Jetto’s Patch (Maida Vale, WA)
2:06 – From lawn to food forest: the suburban plot
2:48 – Turning sand into soil with mulch & compost
3:33 – Creating shade & microclimates with vines & trellises
4:54 – What grows in Perth? From citrus to bananas
5:17 – The pecan tree story & chop-and-drop mulch
6:43 – Family traditions & gardening roots
7:37 – From lawn to herb garden beginnings
8:09 – Designing for year-round food
8:56 – Saving & sharing seed with community
9:30 – Citrus, bananas, apples — proving “you can’t grow that here” wrong
10:24 – 200+ fruit trees in a suburban block
11:35 – Building soil with compost everywhere & rock dust
13:20 – Chickens as soil builders
13:53 – Avocados, grafting & sweet potato groundcover
14:46 – Harvesting daily meals: 100 different greens
15:25 – Heritage beans & rare Argentine pumpkin
16:30 – Self-seeding brassicas & living seed bank
17:30 – Bananas in Perth: nine backyard varieties
20:00 – Seed saving, soil care & manure strategies
25:00 – Mulch, compost & seed-raising mix recipes
27:00 – Teaching garden, community tours & sharing food
30:00 – Cooling the suburb: 12°C cooler microclimate
34:00 – Mapping 400+ plant varieties year-round
38:40 – Rats, pests & natural allies (frogs, birds, bees)
40:00 – Water plants, taro & water chestnuts
42:00 – Blueberries, diversity & thoughtful design
45:00 – Figs, dragon fruit & tamarillo
47:00 – Citrus pests & natural controls
50:00 – Artichokes, self-seeding & plant communities
53:00 – Lily pilly champagne & herbal recipes
55:00 – Pigeon peas, desert lime & unusual fruits
58:00 – Marmalade berries & sharing cuttings
1:01:00 – Closing reflections: abundance in a suburban food forest