Fruit and vegetables come in a variety of colours and are packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that boost the immune system and reduce the risk of numerous chronic health conditions. They are also an excellent source of dietary fibre, which can help to reduce cholesterol, promote regular bowel function, and improve gut health.

There is no better way to care for your health than by focusing on a nutritional intake abundant in fresh, seasonal, and homegrown produce. Growing your own food enables your fruit and vegetables to be picked at their peak and consumed soon after harvesting, meaning high vitamin, mineral and antioxidant levels, fabulous flavour, and freshness – so it is a win on every level.

It is the antioxidants in fruits and vegetables that give them their different colours; so choosing your favourite seeds to plant across the year from each of the colour groups below is a great way to increase exposure to various phytonutrients (plant chemicals) as well as diversity in your dietary intake. See table below that explains the health benefits of different coloured food!  

Colour	Fruits or Vegetables	Phytochemicals & Benefits
🍅 Red	Tomatoes Capsicum Strawberries Apples Beetroot Red grapes Red peppers Red onion	Reduces risk of diabetes & heart disease Cancer protective Improving skin health Carotenoid – Lycopene Ellagic acid Citrulline
🥕 Orange and yellow	Oranges Carrot Sweet Potato Pumpkin Peaches Banana Winter Squash Yellow pepper Pineapple Corn	Protects against eye damage (cataracts and age-related macular degeneration) Supports communication between cells in the body May help to prevent heart disease and stroke May protect against UV damage Carotenoid – Beta-carotenoid Hesperidin
🌿 Green	Spinach  Avocado Asparagus Artichokes Broccoli Alfalfa sprouts Kale Cabbage Kiwi fruit Green tea	Help to protect against cancer and eye related diseases   Sulforaphane Isocyanate Indoles Lutein Zeaxanthin
🍇 Purple	Blueberries Blackberries Elderberries Raisins Eggplant Plums Figs Prunes Lavender Purple cabbage	Delay cellular ageing Reduce blood clots Help to protect against some cancers Assists with memory Anthocyanins
🧄 White	Onions Cauliflower Garlic Ginger Leeks Parsnips Turnips Daikon radish Mushrooms Dates	Antibacterial and antiviral Helps to protect against some cancers with its anti-tumour properties May reduce inflammation and hypertension Allicin Gingerol Sulforaphane Quercetin Kaempferol

Spice it up!

Herbs and spices are another ideal way to boost the phytochemical and antioxidant content of a meal. Using these to top meals is a great way to add flavour to your favourite recipes and can help to reduce the need for added salt. Some great herbs to try your hand at planting to easily include in meals at home include:

Try to eat a rainbow of colourful fruits and vegetables each day to get the full range of colours and consequently vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and  health benefits.  

So next time you’re thinking about what to grow at home – don’t just consider the seasons, but also give thought to the vegetable colours you are planting. Variety is the spice of life!

– Catherine (FFH volunteer Dietitian) 🌱

The team at Cockatoo Community House and The Hills Community Garden have kindly provided us an introduction to composting.

What do I need?
All you need is organic matter and space in a garden or even just a container and if none of the above are possible find out what your local council or community has on offer. Some councils now offer a small compost bin that is supplied with your green bin so you can send all your compostable waste off with the weekly bin collection. 

A compost pile will be successful when you have a good balance of organic matter, water, oxygen, time and all the good organisms to help with the breakdown process. There are so many ways to compost you just need to find what suits you and your lifestyle.  

Common problems:

• Too dry? Water it
• Too wet? Add more browns
• Vinegary flies? Add more browns
• Starting to smell bad? Add more browns and aerate it
• Not breaking down? Add more greens
• Rats getting in? Check that you’re not putting in dairy, meat or bread

If composting excites you but you don’t think you can do it just yet why not check out Sharewaste to donate your scraps to a local composter or get in touch with your local community gardens.

Join the Cockatoo Sustainable Food Project for weekly “Zoom in on your Garden” Q&A sessions, and further gardening resources and support from local community.

Need more inspiration, motivation or information about composting? You can find lots of upcoming events as part of Compost Awareness Week 2nd – 8th May 2021.

The benefits of growing and harvesting your own food does not have to only happen at home or at your community garden. Have you thought about growing food at work? Workplace vegetable gardens is increasing in popularity and builds upon an increasing trend of vertical and rooftop gardens, at-home growing and community gardening. There are many appealing factors of having a communal veggie patch in a workspace, so here we will provide you with a brief introduction to office-based edible gardening and some practical tips to make your workplace more sustainable.

Benefits of growing edibles in the office:

• Plants help purify the air by absorbing pollutants. They can also reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. High levels of CO2 can cause headaches, drowsiness and difficulty concentrating.
• Optimise balconies or otherwise unutilised indoor and outdoor spaces.
• Provides an incentive to staff to get up from their desks, to observe and interact with the plants.
• Indoor plants and greenery lead to a significant reduction in anxiety, depression and fatigue, thereby increasing productivity, creativity and overall mental health of staff.
• Encourages staff to begin growing food at home as well as eating fresh seasonal produce.
• Fosters staff community connectedness and positive relationships.

What conditions are needed:

• An indoor or outdoor area that receives at least 5-6 hours of natural sunlight per day.
• Ideally north-facing, floor to ceiling windows (or windowsills for smaller plants).
• Raised garden beds or pots.
• A coordinator or designated team to ensure ongoing maintenance of the garden.

What to grow:

• Salad leaves and greens (lettuce, spinach, silverbeet, herbs) = ideal for beginners, suitable for indoor or outdoor with low light.
• Roots (carrot, parsnip, beetroot) = suitable for indoor or outdoor.
• Fruit trees = can be potted, ideal for balconies or deck areas.

To help get you started, you can pick up some Food from Home FREE seeds (including carrot, parsnip and silverbeet) at all branches at Casey Cardinia Libraries or Greater Dandenong Libraries. If you’re not sure where your closest free seeds are, register your interest on our home page and we’ll let you know!

If you cannot foresee an edible garden growing in your workspace, there are many other simple ways to make your office a little more sustainable:

1. Green spaces
If your office space is not suitable for growing food, you can still optimise unused spaces with indoor non-edible plants. Many are ideal for low lighting and suitable for big or small spaces. These include succulents, rubber plants and peace lilies. Depending on the number of indoor plants you have, they have the ability to absorb sounds, thus reducing the distraction of background office noise. Creating a green space can become a respite from stressful workspaces and allows staff to experience the many health benefits of indoor plants.

2. Composting
Reduce food waste and waste removal costs and have a dedicated food scraps bin in your office. A colleague who has a compost bin at home can take this bucket home each week. Alternatively, you could look at joining a community composting scheme such as Share Waste, where organic waste can be dropped to neighbours who may have compost bins, worm farms or chickens.

3. Keep Cups on hand
We’ve all had those days where we have forgotten our keep cup. Creating a communal collection of reusable cups in the office can help on days like these! You can also just take an ordinary mug to your local coffee shop.

4. Loose leaf tea
Some teabags are not recyclable nor biodegradable and consist of microplastics, especially those premium brands who use higher levels of plastic mesh. So, ditch the bags and embrace loose leaf! Bonus points if you source your tea from your local bulk foods store.

5. Eco-friendly workplace practices
As many of us are heading back into the office, being intentional of your office practices can help reduce waste and energy. Such as reducing your use of printing, opening the blinds instead of turning a light on, and avoid heating/cooling as often as possible. You may also want to organise your office days with your colleague who lives nearby so you can carpool. Every effort to reducing your carbon footprint, no matter how small, is an effort worth giving.

Extra resources:

• Click here for a case-study of an office-based edible garden based in Eastern Melbourne.
• Click here to access Food from Home’s Monthly Growing Guides (FREE to download)

– Georgia (FFH team) 🌱

If you have only been growing food for a short while, or still just thinking about edible gardening, Autumn is a great time as any to get into the garden and begin growing your next season of produce. With more frequent rains and less intensive garden management, Winter veggies require less care and attention than your summer veggie garden. They practically grow themselves with Melbourne’s cool and wet climate!  

We’ve compiled some of our favourite Autumn garden blogs and articles to help get you started: 

🌱 Tips on preparing your Autumn garden: 
The Little Veggie Patch Co: Preparing the Autumn garden 

🌱 Choosing what vegetables to grow: 
The Diggers Club: Autumn veggie gardening 

🌱 Month-by-month tips on what’s happening in your garden:  
Ceres: March planting advice 

🌱 Short summary of planting advice for different climate zones: 
Sustainable Gardening Australia: March in your patch 

🌱 Seasonal planting advice and preservation tips: 
My Green Garden: What to do in the vegetable garden in April

Foods to try planting in Autumn 

For a simple growing guide, check out Food from Home’s March Growing Guide. Below are some of our suggestions for beginner-friendly edibles to consider adding to your garden, courtyard or balcony! 

Brassicas 

If you have the space, broccoli, kale and some mini-cauliflowers are perfect for those new to gardening as they are easy to grow successfully. Choose seedlings that are small and young and avoid those with tough looking stems. Brassica crops will grow better if planted in full sun (a spot which receives a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight each day) but can tolerate partial shade (3-6 hours of sunlight each day). Consider using fine netting to deter white cabbage moth, or finely crushed eggshells to stop caterpillars, snail and slugs from enjoying your new seedlings. 

Garlic 

Easy to grow in small spaces! To grow garlic, you can use garlic bulbs purchased from the supermarket, but if bought from a nursery you are ensuring you are getting a variety that is disease and chemical free. Break the garlic head into individual cloves and plant them pointy end up, 5cm deep, 20cm apart. Like onion, they take a long time to reach maturity (9 months), so take some time planning where they go. Choose a pot or area in your garden that you don’t plan on using for your spring/summer veggies! 

Peas 

Make the most of your small spaces and grow peas up a trellis. Great fun for the kids to pick, shell and eat all within 10 seconds! Different varieties grow different heights – make sure to check the tag on the plant/seed packet for more information. Dwarf and bush peas grow to about 60cm high, ‘Melbourne Markey’ (also known as Massey Gem) grow to 50cm high. Sugar Snap peas are also a tasty choice. 

Broad Beans 

One of the easiest plants to grow. Plant before May to harvest in Spring. Sow 10-15cm apart. Coles Dwarf are a hardy variety, best for handling strong winds. At the end of the season, remember to leave a few of the last pods to dry on the plant and you have some seeds ready to sow for next year’s crop (or to share with your friends and neighbours!).  

Leafy Greens 

Lettuce, mustard greens, spinach, rainbow chard (also known as silverbeet – perfect for stirfrys!) all grow well in Autumn and into Winter and are perfect for beginners. Within about 8 weeks from sowing seeds (less if planted from seedlings) you can start to harvest leaves from outside the plant. 

If you have any questions or have some further tips to add, make sure to connect with out FFH Community Group, where you will receive great advice from likeminded locals with lots of knowledge and experiences to share.  

Want to get growing this weekend? Pick up some free veggie seeds as part of Food from Home’s Free Seed Initiative at one of your local libraries across Greater Dandenong, Casey or Cardinia. If you’re not sure where your closest seeds are, head to our website, fill out the form and we’ll let you know.   

Happy growing! 🌱
– Georgia (FFH team)

If you think that edible gardening is all about the delicious end-product, think again! Research shows us that it can also be great for our mental health, in many different ways. Natalie from the FFH team looks at some of the ways that we can benefit mentally from edible gardening.

I spent much of last weekend researching cucumber recipes. Is it too much to have cucumber in an entrée and a main? What about a cucumber dessert, is that pushing it? I had finally managed to grow a vegetable to a great size for eating, and I wanted to showcase it in everything! As it turns out, I am not alone in feeling proud of my small gardening feat. Prior to the Food from Home campaign launch, the team at enliven surveyed South East Melbournians and found that almost 80% found that a sense of achievement is one of the most appealing parts of growing food at home.

My enjoyment from growing my cucumber didn’t just come from being able to eat it. Joy also came from the process of growing; spending time each day in the garden, asking my neighbour for her growing tips and finally inviting family over to share my 3-course cucumber dinner. Similarly, the mental health benefits of edible gardening don’t only come from eating the fruits and vegetables that you grow. The process of gardening itself supports mental health and can provide benefits to your mental health. Indeed, for the locals in the South East who were already edible gardeners, almost 65% nominated mental health/wellbeing as the one of the main reasons why they grow food at home.

“My veggie patch is in my front yard and I engage with heaps of passers-by. From there I share produce, seeds, knowledge, joy and plants.”

South East Melbourne Growing Food at Home Survey

Defining Mental Health
Mental health can be a difficult concept to define. Often, it is used as a substitute term for mental health conditions (such an anxiety or depression), but mental health is an important part of our overall health. The World Health Organization defines mental health as a state of wellbeing that allows individuals to realise their own abilities, cope with normal stresses in life, work or study productively and contribute to their community.

Edible gardening can benefit people with mental health conditions, as well as helping to promote mental health for all people.

Gardening to promote mental health
There are many different aspects of edible gardening that are beneficial. Below are some examples of how edible gardening can help us to maintain or improve our mental health.

Connection to nature:

Before you even get your hands into the soil, just being in a garden can benefit your mental health! Research has shown that everything from looking at a view of nature through a window, to having green areas nearby can benefit aspects of your mental health. These include improved mood, wellbeing by reducing the impact of stressors.

Here are some ways to immerse yourself in the benefits of nature during your edible gardening journey:

• Consider including non-edible elements that might encourage you to spend more time in your garden. These could include trees for shade, a bench, chair, or table.
• If you do not have a yard or garden at home think about the way you can transform other spaces, such as your balcony or windowsill to a green space. Alternatively, think about visiting a local public park or community garden to spend some time in nature.
• If there are activities that you love doing to relax or unwind, consider doing these in the garden. The next time you want to do a puzzle, read a book or play cards, think about doing this in your garden.

Social interaction:

The act of developing a garden, as well as enjoying the produce that you grow, can help you to form social connections in your local community and develop a sense of belonging and inclusion. Research has demonstrated that social connectedness can benefit mental health and reduce distress. Specific research into gardening has also shown that involvement in at-home or community gardening can reduce loneliness, improve social connection and benefit wellbeing.

Here are some ways to encourage social contact during your edible gardening journey:

• Taking part in a community garden is also a great way to connect with people in your neighbourhood, and can offer opportunities for social connection and knowledge exchange. A Community Garden Directory is coming soon! Subscribe here to our newsletter to stay updated.

• Try gardening in the front yard. One of the FFH survey respondents found this a great conversation starter with their neighbours: “My veggie patch is in my front yard and I engage with heaps of passers-by. From there I share produce, seeds, knowledge, joy and plants.”
• Consider involving others in growing, harvesting, or eating the produce that you grow. You could have a working bee with friends to help you establish your edible garden, have your kids help with harvesting, or organise a meal with family to enjoy and showcase the delicious food that you have grown.
• The Food from Home Community Facebook group is a great way to connect with local edible gardeners and share your gardening tips or questions.

Eating fruit and vegetables:

What you grow in your edible garden can also benefit your mental health. Research has shown that fruit and vegetable intake can support good mental health.

Here are some ways to increase your fruit and vegetable intake in your edible garden:

• Grow what you like to eat and what you eat most often.
• One survey participant found that their edible garden also led them to find new things that they loved to eat. “I can grow things that are never available in stores (like Jerusalem artichokes) and try some new things. [My] favourite herb [that I] only tried since growing, is lovage.”
• Consider growing different produce than your friends and family. This way, you can share what you grow and try a variety of fruits and vegetables. You can also attend local crop-swaps to try and learn about what other locals are growing in their garden.

The next time you’re in your garden, relax and stay a little longer. Do not underestimate the benefits of having an edible garden. Not only are you doing your bit to help the environment, but you are helping to take care of your own mental health.

– Natalie (FFH team) 🌱