Millie and Squid visit the small regional South Gippsland town of Foster, which has taken its street food to a whole new level, by planting out the verges and roundabouts with plants that are edible as well as beautiful.
The guiding hand behind this productive program is council horticulturist Paul Robinson. “People just love it,” he says. “Not one bad comment in the 10 years I’ve been here.”
People are welcome to help themselves, but at their own risk: Paul says there are three types of chillies planted around the town, from mild to very hot, and people have to taste them to find out which is which.
In summer, the main roundabout as you enter the town is planted with chillies, capsicums, silverbeet, thyme, oregano, celery, and eggplant, as well as colourful bedding plants. Another bed has tall corn plants, with chives and marigolds landscaped around the base.
Initially residents weren’t sure if they were allowed to pick the plants, so Paul says there was a “4:30pm rush” – as soon as the parks staff left work at 4pm, people would hit the streets and start picking! Now people know to pick the leaves of plants, rather than rip out the whole plant.
The plants are quite safe to pick and eat – they just need a quick wash.
The plantings take a fair bit of work: two weeks to prepare the beds, nearly two weeks of planting, then ongoing maintenance and watering. But Paul says it’s worth it for the response they get.
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