14	Sunken Gardens

The sunken gardens are carved into the side of a slope and drain into the Japanese Pond. They contain nine raised beds made of Besser bricks with strawberries and Mediterranean herbs growing around the borders, perennial leeks and spring onions as a backbone and annual vegetables planted on a rotation basis. The gardens are used to trial and grow out varieties from the seed bank and to produce food for the staff, inhabitants, volunteers and interns at The Seed Centre. Artfully crafted bamboo trellises, signs with little homilies and herb-carpetted pathways give it a charming air.

The area as it was when the property was first bought in January 1998.		The drains and garden boundaries are marked and the work begins

Top soil is removed down to the sub soil and formed into the nine beds. Here five Jabiru birds march by.		Concrete blocks are placed around the soil. The beds measure 1.8 by 3 metres.

Lemon Thyme growing around Bed 6. This system requires little maintenance:- watering and fertilising is concentrated into restricted areas which are planted intensively.		Grand opening day in October 1999. On the right is a cage that is being used to isolate one variety of carrots from another.