In the Native Food forest we are fortunate to have an enormous Macadamia Bush nut tree, it’s magnificent. As you can see from the picture the canopy is dense and at certain times of year it is prolific with nuts. The local birds and animals seemingly enjoy them too!

The birds and fauna are dropping nuts in the nearby forest and several small trees are emerging. To ensure they don’t take over the bush, we have been advised by a staff member at Landcare to remove them. The track leading through the Native food forest is our designated boundary, so all seedlings that emerge beyond this space will be removed and shared with Permaculture friends and in crop swaps with the intention of obtaining new edible plants for both the Native and Edible food forest.

A recent discovery has been the natural opening of the outer casing of both Macadamia nuts. When recently we brought some nuts home to Sydney. The birds and animals had clearly begun snacking on the nuts on the tree and we were uncertain whether it would be appropriate to harvest. I was delighted to find they naturally opened on the kitchen bench.