Kingsgrove, NSW

A couple in Kingsgrove had a sunny spot behind their garage which has been repurposed for urban farming! The narrow service strip behind a garage is exactly the kind of overlooked space that so many Kingsgrove blocks have going spare, and a pair of raised wicking beds turns it into a small, productive kitchen garden without losing any usable yard.

We set the two beds to catch the sun in that suntrap and fitted a trellis so climbing crops can go vertical against the wall, along with a built-in composter to feed the soil from the household's own scraps. Being sub-irrigated, each bed keeps its own water in a reservoir underneath and lets the plants drink from below, so this patch keeps growing through Kingsgrove's hot, still inland summers with only the occasional top-up rather than daily watering.

Sitting in the St George area a good way back from the coast, Kingsgrove gardens can bake in summer and dry out fast, which is where a self-watering bed really pays off — the soil stays evenly moist even across a heatwave or a weekend away. There's room across the two beds for a proper rotation of tomatoes, beans, leafy greens, herbs and root veg, with the trellis carrying cucumbers, peas and the like.

We build our raised beds from kiln-dried, vegetable-grade timber with a food-safe finish — no cheap treated pine against your food — so they weather the years rather than rotting away. If you've got a forgotten corner in Kingsgrove, Bexley or elsewhere across the St George area that could be growing dinner, we'd love to help you plan it.