A glimpse of the levy bank in Maitland before white settlement would have offered a rare insight into our past.
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Now some of that history is growing in the CBD in a native food garden.
It's a special real life history project and the custodians are some of our future leaders - the Maitland-Rutherford Girl Guides.
There are 25 species at risk of extinction in the Hunter region that are growing in the garden, including wild raspberries.
The girl guides are learning about each one, their nutrient requirements, growth rate, fruiting, harvesting and how they can be used in the kitchen.
"To have the combination of having the site of one of the oldest houses in Maitland and this new native food garden, which replicates the vegetation that was growing there before white settlement is amazing," Maitland-Rutherford Girl Guides District Manager Jill Norburn said.
"I can't believe we've had this opportunity and all of this support. I'm very excited about it.
"We've already used some of the produce from it. I've used some of the pigface, the native ginger and a native thyme.
"All sorts of good things are coming out of this on top of the fact that it's an opportunity to network with the community."
The garden was made possible through a $15,000 Community Environment Protection grant given to Slow Food Hunter Valley.
Slow Food volunteers joined with the Girl Guides to make the project possible but will soon step back and allow them to take over.
That handover was supposed to happen on Sunday but has been postponed due to the worsening COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney.
Slow Food Earth Market chairwoman Amorelle Dempster said the venture was an Ark of Taste project through Slow Food aimed at preserving and improving biodiversity.
She said Maitland Woodturners engraved a series of signs to create a label for every species in the garden.
"The native raspberries are already producing and they are delicious and so is the mint; there is quite a lot of stuff the girl guides are already harvesting," she said.
"The garden looks amazing since all of the rain. It has grown and changed and is really flourishing."
The plants were sourced from expert Noel Jupp from Riverdene Nurseries in Gresford and Hunter Indigenous Plants in Beresfield.
A water tank and irrigation facilities have also been installed to keep the plants nourished during dry times.
Ms Norburn said some of the produce would be used to make delicious treats that would be sold in fundraising drives, but that wouldn't happen until COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed.
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Belinda-Jane Davis
Passionate about community news
Passionate about community news
