THESE days foodies have plenty to capture their interest at the Geelong Botanic Gardens. The picturesque central lawn beside the towering Chilean wine palm has been transformed into a vegetable garden.A couple of years ago, in an innovative partnership between the gardens and the Geelong Organic Gardeners, a flower bed was planted with vegetables.

The idea was to showcase edibles as easy-to-grow and effective ornamental feature plants.Twelve weeks later a notice in the local newspaper invited people to "take whatever you want". People flocked to the gardens to harvest waist-high silver beet, nasturtiums, beetroot and parsley - and there were leftovers. Visitors from all backgrounds chatted about horticultural matters and swapped recipes as they filled their bags and savoured the organically grown produce. For many, it was their first visit to the gardens.

Now a permanent vegetable garden has wooden potato boxes painted in brilliant blue and a six-bed rotation system of legumes, peas and beans, cabbage and broccoli representing brassicas, a green manure crop, onions and other root vegetables, sweet corn and cucurbits, plus solanums of tomatoes, chillies and capsicum.

Gardener Katie Drummond-Gillett has created four beds relating to different continents. There's also a stone-edged and tiered potager parterre, affectionately referred to as the "birthday cake", featuring heritage vegetables that were bred for flavour. Healthy crops of onions and potatoes, beans wending their way up tepee frames, pots of radish, baby carrots, beets and leafy greens are testament to sustainable gardening practices.

This edible garden has proven an invaluable tool for visitors and school groups. It encourages people to grow their own food, demonstrates no-dig and organic principles and prompts people to think about where their food comes from.The harvest is now donated to Bethany Community Support for their community kitchens program, where groups meet regularly to cook nutritious and affordable meals.

Twelve kitchens have been set up around the Geelong region, Drysdale and in Colac and Dereel. "We are broadly targeting people from disadvantaged communities as this region has one of the lowest consumption per capita of fresh fruit and vegetables in the state," says Grant Boyd, CEO of Bethany Community Support. Groups usually consist of six to eight and after an initial information session, they begin to plan themes and menus and cook with a facilitator. The cost is under $2 a meal and a member is delegated to budget and shop for ingredients. Participants acquire skills to cook more at home.

They share a meal and prepare other dishes to take home. The botanic gardens staff are also looking at teaching groups how to grow vegetables and herbs, which can add more flavour to their meals.Annette Zealley, the gardens' director, says surplus produce goes to the local food bank for distribution throughout the Geelong area.

"Some of the old varieties of vegetables are proving to be strong performers with low water and they often have stronger flavours and interesting ornamental features," says Zealley. "Our culture values old wines, antique furniture, so why not heritage vegetables?"The Friends of the Geelong Botanic Gardens regularly conduct guided walks and on occasion dedicated themes may include plants as food, bush foods and Australian plants.