Our Eclectic Patch | Claire Bickle

I never cease to be amazed by the beautiful intricacies of nature.

Edible gardens can be ornamental. A collection of herbs, salad greens and marigolds planted together just go to show how attractive they can be in any garden situation

A collection of herbs, salad greens and marigolds planted together just go to show how attractive they can be in any garden situation.

Edible Greens. This collection of greens are great to grow in the subtropics for yourself and even your chooks. Sorrel, Amaranth, Ceylon spinach, Pak Choi, Comfrey, Pigeon pea, Brazilian spinach, Chicory.

This collection of greens are great to grow in the subtropics for yourself and even your chooks. Sorrel, Amaranth, Ceylon spinach, Pak Choi, Comfrey, Pigeon pea, Brazilian spinach, Chicory.

This is our beloved Phryne the Plymouth Rock chicken, she comes along to a lot of the workshops and talks that I deliver on keeping backyard chooks.

Tahitian limes are the best variety to grow in South East Qld.

This is the stunning flower of the Purple podded Dutch Pea.

I love having a range of different chook breeds so that we have a rainbow of egg shell colours.

This is our Slate coloured male Turkey. We just love our turkeys they add a lot of character to the backyard.

This is our original edible patch at our old house. Biodiversity is one of the keys to success I reckon.

This is the caterpillar of the double headed Hawk Moth. Getting rid of such wonderful creatures in the garden means you will reducing the number of butterflies and moths, which is never a good thing.

I love sunflowers and so do our native bees, if you look closely enough you see a couple busy at work on this sunflower.

Having trouble getting your children to eat broccoli? Then have a go at growing some purple broccoli this aut/winter and watch their eyes light up at harvest time.

Letting your brassicas go to flower once you have had several harvests means that the bees and various other insects get to enjoy them too.

The cocoyam is not only a wonderful source of starch but an attractive and majestic plant to have in both edible and ornamental gardens.

The Nasturtium is one of the easiest edible flowering plants to grow. You can use the flowers and leaves in salads and the bees just love them too

The flowering annual Cosmos makes a great addition to the flower garden but the edible garden as well due to it’s attractiveness to beneficial and pollinating insects.