Why the Kidston family set down roots in the heritage area of Ainslie

Rupert, a Bichon Frise-cross-toy poodle, gave me a warm welcome to his garden path in Ainslie. His family, the Kidstons, say the dog races up Mount Ainslie rain, hail or shine and that he is a keen kayaker and surfer.

On a seat in the back garden, backed by tapestry cushions woven by her mother Dimity, Rose Kidston, 11, a pupil at Ainslie Primary, was offering her home-made chocolate brownies. They were made to a derivative of a few recipes, modified to increase the roughage while keeping them rich yet sweet, Rose's preference. The brownies were on a ceramic plate with a botanical pattern made by Dimity.

The Kidstons moved to Canberra from Balmain in Sydney and bought the place two years ago. Coming from inner-city Sydney the heritage area of Ainslie and the large "old" gardens were a significant attraction.

Jamie Kidston says that while they loved the private, decorative garden full of deciduous and ornamental trees, they really wanted to incorporate productive trees and a vegetable patch, which they had while the children grew up in the country.

From 2003 to 2010 they lived on a farm in Gunning where they had a large vegie, fruit, and chook set-up. Jamie commuted to Canberra and, from 2007 to 2010, worked in Afghanistan for NATO and the Afghan government in a strategic communications advisory/operational capacity.

At his home in Kabul, Jamie used gardening and animal husbandry: chooks, ducks, turkey, partridge and rabbit raising for the table, as a form of decompressing/de-stressing. He says it is something that he has always enjoyed and it provided a sense of normalcy. After he returned to Australia, the family lived in Sydney before relocating to Canberra.

In Ainslie they set about clearing an old vine along the eastern border fence and dug beds into the driveway. They planted 18 fruit and nut trees and all are growing well despite having been planted mid-January 2013 rather than the following winter from root stock. Jamie couldn't wait to get started.

The beds were initially improved with chook and cow manure and more recently with home-produced compost. At first the neglected beds were infested with lawn grubs which they hand removed and fed to their Hy-Line Brown chooks. The chooks are let out of their pen during the summer when growth is rampant.

The edible tree list includes two Stella cherries and a lapin cherry, five assorted hazelnuts, satsuma and santa rosa plums, Pomme de Neige apple, a dwarf nectarine, a Turkish fig, two Azerbaijani​ pomegranates and a white mulberry (Shahtoot).

The pomegranates do very well in the summer heat that radiates from the driveway bricks and they are a pleasant reminder for Jamie of the times he spent sitting in pomegranate groves with friends in Afghanistan, attempting to stay cool and eating the wonderful pulp.

Between the trees they plant seasonal vegetables which feed the family. At the moment these include silverbeet, sorrel, mustard, endive, coriander and various kales. For summer he is planting green hubbard and Turks turban pumpkins, gourds, zucchini, Lebanese cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley, mint, and chives. They buy seedlings from the Bungendore crew at EPIC farmers' market and heirloom seeds from Diggers.

The family like to cook together when they can. Olivia, the eldest daughter, 13, has been studying food tech at Campbell High School. She enjoys creating dishes in the family kitchen. They all try to include a garden-grown component in most meals.

Dimity Kidston is well known as a tapestry weaver and ceramicist. Her magpie chair, woven in 2000 from wool, linen and cotton, is a reflection of an Aboriginal legend of how the magpie got his colour.

Recently she has incorporated chooks, native plants, fish, cicadas, and edibles in her designs, including artichokes. A friend, Sarah Cains, from her weaving class at Sturt, Mittagong, grew zucchini flowers for one design and Jamie regularly grows peas used in another.

There is a design on their garage/workshop floor based on Sturt's desert peas and light shades in the shed ceiling are made from Uzbek fabric that Jamie collected in north-west Afghanistan.

Note: Medley Works, an exhibition by Dimity Kidston and Libby Hobbs, will be open at Pod, Shop 5, The Hamlet in Lonsdale Street, Braddon, from 11am to 3pm from November 5 to 15.

Rose's chocolate brownies

225g chocolate (85 per cent)
225g butter
200g castor sugar
100g almond meal (or half almond meal/half LSA)
75g dessicated coconut
75g almond slivers
100g dates
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3. Melt the chocolate and butter gently over a low heat in a heavy-based saucepan. Take the pan off the heat, mix in the vanilla and sugar, and let it cool a little. Beat the eggs into the pan along with the ground almonds, chopped dates, almond slivers and coconut. Turn into a 24cm (9 inch) square baking tin. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes; the top will have set but the mixture will be gooey. When cooler, cut carefully into 12-16 squares.