The Food Forest today is the result of the vision of owners Graham & Annemarie Brookman and functions as a remarkable 15 hectare Permaculture farm and learning centre. From its buzzing biodiversity come over 150 organically grown varieties of fruit and nuts, wheat and vegetables, free range eggs, honey, carob beans, Australian native foods, nursery plants and timber.
When the property was purchased in 1983, it was not much more than a bare barley paddock. Only a few towering River Red Gums remained along the Gawler River from the time the Kaurna Aboriginal people camped in their shade and gathered food from the land.
Today the place is more like a forest and endangered wildlife such as Brush Tailed Bettongs help the goose flock manage the forest floor. Together with thousands of species of insects, birds and other creatures they form the complex and bountiful ecosystem contained within a 1.5 km predator-proof fence.
The heritage-listed homestead was built within the first few years of white settlement of South Australia and much of the fascinating history of the farm can be traced through the stone troughs at which Clydesdale horses drank and implements that once made life easier for the farmers of the day.
At The Food Forest a heritage-listed stone barn has been transformed into a well-equipped Learning Centre but many practical activities also take you out into the orchards, gardens and bushlands of the property. You can also enjoy our loo-with-a-view, a unique composting toilet and reedbed system which transforms human by-products into reeds for mulching, rich compost for fertiliser and golden bamboo for furniture and for structural work.
You will see environmentally designed buildings which demonstrate passive and active solar technologies: the ‘Studio’ and it’s curved garden wall, the “Eco-Gazebo”, the drive-in coolroom, an extension to the over 160 year old homestead and a small gallery, all of which are built using strawbales. A photovoltaic system of thin film amorphous panels provides electricity to the house and grid; the sun also provides water heating.

Last updated: 12 Dec 2004

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