The Farm

Perth City Farm is an environmental educational centre and a Western Australian icon for environmental sustainability and community engagement. We bring together individuals and create a supportive platform of understanding, inspiration, action and hope from which the wider Perth community can grow an appreciation of the natural world, a passion to protect it, and a sustainable future together; Our urban farm is an evolving space and changes regularly as projects, people and funding come and go. You will see trees, plants and systems chosen using permaculture principles to provide a yield while helping to build soil, demonstrating sustainable living ideas to the public. Permaculture can be defined as ‘consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fibre and energy for local needs’. Curious about permaculture? Learn more here.

Currently at the Farm you’ll find:

Living Soil Centre

All organic material from the Farm’s kitchens, café, garden, and off-site prunings are turned into rich, organic compost that goes back into our gardens. We compost large volumes in our hot composting system, have large worm farms and experiment with bio-char.

Community Recycling Hub

At City Farm we advocate for a circular economy in which systems mimic those in nature; all materials are reused and

reabsorbed to support life to come. We promote the five R’s of Refusing, Reducing, Reusing, Recycling and Restoring to contribute to building a regenerative and circular economy.  We maintain a community recycling facility to assist our community to reduce their ecological footprint.  We collect 22 different items that aren’t collected in curbside waste schemes and distribute them to organisations that reuse or recycle them, with over 30,000 items diverted from landfill each year. The hub accepts small amounts (i.e. what you might collect in your household, but not your workplace) of very specific items, and the list of what we can accept changes regularly. Please read here for more information on what we are currently collecting and when you can drop it off

Bush Tucker Garden

This Bush Tucker Garden was planted in memory of Fanny Bulbuk Yooreel, a Whadjuk Noongar woman who was born around 1840 on nearby Matagarup (Heirisson Island). We honour her memory as an early Aboriginal activist with a selection of edible native plants, some of which Fanny would have harvested from this area.

Market Garden

With the help of volunteers we tend our Market Garden using the ‘Grow Biointensive’ method. This produces nutrient-dense food in a small space using low-tech market gardening tools. As well as teaching our volunteers about efficient food production, the garden helps to stock our stall at the Saturday Farmers Market, and the produce features on the onsite café menu. 

Native Fauna Habitat

We actively restore and maintain biodiversity through the rewilding of our East Perth premises by providing habitat for native birds, small reptiles, frogs, bees and other insects. In the South-West corner of the farm you’ll find a Frog Bog, where we’ve turned a naturally damp area into a haven for our pest-controlling friends. There are numerous bee hotels, gabion structures and bird boxes to provide high quality habitat.

Chook Palace

We have a much-loved flock of chickens (hens and roosters) and ducks at Perth City Farm. Chickens are wonderful members of the garden team, processing mountains of organic material, digging for bugs and aerating our soil.

Home Demonstration Garden

The Home Garden is designed to show how to grow a large amount of food in a small space, providing inspiration for our visitors to replicate some of the concepts in their own gardens.

Art

Throughout the Farm you’ll find some gorgeous art — murals, mosaics and sculptures. In its early days the Farm was known as the only legal place to practice street art, so you’ll find some classic pieces here by artists who have turned their passion into their profession. New pieces pop up regularly; please reach out if you’d like to add some art to the farm.