Aidan’s Kitchen Garden

Designed and established: 2023/24

Location: Hawker, ACT

The backstory: Our client, Aidan, requested a working kitchen garden that could fuel his family’s fridge, pantry and bodies, reduce their grocery bill and align with their passion for permaculture.

Brief: Design a carefully crafted, terraced space that blends structure, productivity and softness. Maximise space and possible garden area in a small, sloped courtyard. Attract birds, bees, frogs and wildlife and embed a permaculture philosophy in this space. Optimise usable space to enable maximum produce output. Provide a variety of garden beds that meet produce needs across all seasons.

Size: ~150SQM.

Output: A highly productive growing space. Stone retaining walls and generous steps create structure and flow, forming distinct garden rooms that maximise planting area and accessibility. Productive beds, vertical trellises and arched frames support year-round harvests of vegetables, fruit and herbs, reducing household food costs and increasing self-sufficiency. Aidan’s Kitchen Garden encourages movement, interaction and seasonal connection with their outdoor space, creating an abundant, working landscape that nourishes both people and place.

With thanks to: Legendary Dave Korda, from Homestead Stonework, for his help and guidance building this epic stone retaining wall.