5 easy native edible plants to grow at home this Spring
With Spring just around the corner, it’s a perfect time to get into the garden!
Following on from our popular series Best Edible Australian Native Plants for the School Garden (you can view Part 1 and Part 2), we’re sharing 5 of our favourite edible native plants that you can grow at home, or in pots.
These native foods have been harvested, cooked and used as medicine for tens of thousands of years by Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders and are an important part of living cultures.
1. Native Spinach or Warrigal Greens (Tetragonia tetragonioides)
Native spinach is a really easy food to grow and can be substituted for spinach or silverbeet. It’s recommended to blanch them in boiling water before eating. In Spring and Summer you’ll also see small, yellowish flowers appear which can also be eaten.
They like full sun and can be grown in a pot, but make sure it’s deep as they like to spread and sprawl. Give it lots of water over the Summer period and harvest it often to encourage it to grow! Leaves will be ready to harvest in 8–10 weeks.
2. Finger Limes (Citrus australasica)
Tangy, sour and absolutely delicious, finger limes are a favourite at Sustainable Play. They’re also extremely refreshing to spice up cold water on a hot day.
Finger limes thrive in dappled light as well as full sun. They can be easily grown in a pot, just make sure to mulch in Spring and keep the soil moist in Summer. For optimum cropping, water your finger lime thoroughly during flowering and fruiting. They have a relatively shallow root system and will appreciate the regular watering.
3. Lemon Myrtle (Backhousia citriodora)
One of the easiest bush plants to grow and the smell from the edible lemon-scented leaves is pure bliss! Sweet or savoury, lemon myrtle is a great addition to any meal. Use it like a lemony bay leaf, or like a herb in sweet muffins and cakes. It’s also a great tea and when used in essential oils it has a refreshing lemony scent, coupled by its antifungal and antibacterial properties, according to Tucker Bush.
Lemon myrtle trees can grow upwards of 4m or if pruned to size, can be kept in a pot. Make sure your lemon-myrtle is in a nice sunny spot and watered regularly.
4. Bush Basil (Plectranthus graveolens)
Bush Basil is the perfect accompaniment to wonderful Mediterranean flavours like tomato and garlic. It’s a sun-loving species, so plant in a full sun to partly shaded environment with free draining soil. An earthy potting mix with plenty of organic matter will yield the best harvest.
As it grows, harvest the leaves as you need them. Pinching it back will actually help it grow more, so if you see flowers starting to grow, pinch them off as a flowering basil plant loses its flavour.
5. Rivermint (Mentha australis)
With a uniquely spearmint-like flavour, native river mint is the perfect pot plant. It can be used in salads, sauces, sorbets or as a fresh herbal tea. It’s also a great insect repellent and can provide relief from cold-like symptoms when steeped in hot water.
Native river mint, although less invasive than other mints, is still best grown in a pot in a shady, boggy area. The little white flowers will also attract pollinators over the Summer months.
Why not check out our edible Preschool Garden on a Preschool tour?
Our team would love to meet your family and show you around our wonderful preschool! Sustainable Play Preschool is a small preschool, with a focus on engaging children thoughtfully with the natural world every day. Our play-based curriculum holistically prepares children to thrive and includes cooking classes, bush kindy, yoga sessions, gardening and regeneration classes, art and STEM activities.
Written By
Jenny joined the Sustainable Play Preschool team in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts, Communications and a Bachelor of Business from Charles Sturt University.
Whilst always interested in the power of nature, it was with the birth of her own daughter that she gained a greater appreciation for just how precious (and fleeting) childhood is, and the importance of providing children with a nature centric early learning experience.