Paula Xiberras
The name Jamie means supplanter, to replace something, in Jamie Durie’s case its a matter of replacing our conception of a garden and in a broader sense seeing it as both an aesthetic pleasure and a place to nourish and sustain us physically in providing the mainstay of our nutritional needs. However, rather than supplanting our view of a garden as a place to grow plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables he wants us to consider this on a grander scale, and to make our garden our second home. He wants us to literally turn our house inside out and have comfortable seating and tables and even a bath! outside.
Jamie Durie is on a mission to help us get healthier, protect the environment, throw out the pesticides and poisons and even improve family relationships and it all starts and grows in the garden!, the edible garden that is.
Jamie was in Tasmania recently to launch his 10th book ‘ Edible Garden Design’ and we caught up for a chat.
‘ Edible Garden Design’ focuses on how to marry the ornamental features of a garden to sustain our aesthetic senses and needs with its ability to provide food to physically sustain us.
The process is all about mixing and matching the colour, texture and shapes to create that aesthetic while at the same time providing nourishing foods. Jamie says, for instance parsley, provides lovely borders in gardens as does rosemary and beetroot.
One of the aims of the book is to de condition us from seeing the vegetable patch as just a vegetable patch of the edible instead embellishing it with the ornamental to nourish our spirits.
And now with so many great chefs in Australia and health and fitness experts there is a massive groundswell towards the organic such as ‘Edible Garden Design’ professes.
Providing less expensive, fresh pesticide free and package free.
Jamie says he drives his staff mad sometimes as he always on the lookout for new ideas to incorporate into his designs.
One of these ideas from the edible garden is the products it produces that can be used for unique gifts.
I ask what Jamie would do for a gift from his own garden and he’s full of ideas around creating home-grown meaningful gifts like a sprig of rosemary in olive oil, a chutney tomato recipe from his mum and a gift he gave to a friend of lemon grass stalks in vodka.
It’s not just the edible products of the garden that Jamie concerns himself with but other aspects such as the furniture! Jamie has been involved in making furniture in Italy where he incorporates nature into his designs to bring the outside inside and outside again to create a living area in the garden.
Jamie will be back in Hobart to promote an organic skin care range to be available in Priceline and Terry White pharmacies.
And if that is not enough diversity to demonstrate Jamie’s Renaissance man status Jamie also has a plethora of shows on Foxtel including ‘The Outdoor Room’ and ‘The Apartment’.
Jamie hopes his latest book will inspire those who are house proud to embrace his ideas of design.
Jamie’s book ‘Edible Garden Design’ is out now published by Penguin.
You can read more about Jamie and his book here
http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9781921383083/edible-garden-design-delicious-designs-ground
