PRACTICE OF EDIBLE GARDEN IN
DWELLINGS SCALE
HOW EDIBLE GARDEN PROVIDE THE FOOD AND PSYCHOLOGICAL NEED
DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Gabriel Anggi Wismandaru (Author)
Department of Architecture
Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta
Indonesia
NPM : 180117233
anggi.wismandaru@gmail.com
Felicia Viona Tiaradianti (Author)
Department of Architecture
Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta
Indonesia
NPM : 180117315
vionatiaradianti@gmail.com
Abstract— Background: In this pandemic period, people in
Indonesia generally struggle on financial issues. We saw this
as a domino effect, if society is struggling financially, it
affects how the society access the food supply. Besides food
issues, people also were suggested to frequently go outside
the house for recreation at open green space since the corona
virus survives harder at the open space. On the other hand,
open green space also fulfills the psychological need for
humans to recover from isolation. Goal: The goal of the
community is expected to be able to overcome financial
problems as well as food availability amid during the Covid
19 pandemic. The second goal is to find out how to fulfill
human psychological needs while avoiding human
interaction outside their house and also by means of
recreation that can be held at home such as a mini garden
(edible garden). Methodology: The research will be
conducted by case method. We will observe one of the edible
gardens that still exist. The result data will describe how
edible gardens are able to supply food needs and provide
recreational benefits during pandemic. The data obtained by
interview and observation. Hypothesis: People can grow
vegetables and fruit independently in their respective houses
through an edible garden so that their food is still fulfilled.
Ruth Yamenda Ebigail Simanjuntak (Author)
Department of Architecture
Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta
Indonesia
NPM : 180117338
ruthyamenda18@gmail.com
Hugo Albrect Hermawan (Author)
Department of Architecture
Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta
Indonesia
NPM : 180117380
vigorv69@gmail.com
So that there are no obstacles in fulfilling food availability.
In addition, edible gardens can increase human immunity
and psychology because they enjoy the benefits of green
plants themselves.
Keywords-pandemic; financial issue; psychological issue;
food supply; virus spread; edible garden
I. Introduction
The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic has
disrupted financial system stability. This is supported by
various policies implemented by the government to
minimize the spread of this virus (Minister of Finance
Sri Mulyani Indrawati, 2020). This happened because of
social distancing, the closure of educational buildings,
offices, closed borders, even regional isolation or
lockdowns, resulting in drastic decline in economic
activity.
In addition to disrupting the stability of the
financial system, the COVID-19 pandemic also resulted
in the threat of a food crisis. Therefore, efforts to meet
household food and nutritional needs are recommended
through optimizing the use of yard land (Ministry of
Agriculture, 2020) through food yard activities not only
to meet food needs at the family level, but also reduce
expenditure and even increase household income if
managed optimally ( Head of the Food Security Agency,
Agung Hedriadi, 2020) With the existence of yards,
apart from fulfilling food needs, it can also become a
garden or recreational space for households to maintain
mental and psychological health. Based on the results of
the Park survey, it is important to maintain mental and
physical health during the pandemic, getting 5 votes out
of 6 adults 83%, parents 68%, millennial generation
68%, generation Z 65%, and baby boomers 54%
(National Recreation and Park Association, 2020) Parks
also play an important role in the development of
children's character (Alinda Zain, 2020).
The impact of covid not only affects financial
conditions, but can affect a person's psychological
condition. This is evidenced by the respondent's data
totaling 10 people. Some of the most frequent
complaints are psychological complaints, namely
feeling anxious, tense / worried (40%), followed by
complaints of neglected daily activities / tasks (37%),
loss of appetite (30%) and not sleeping well (30%).
II. THEORETICAL BASIS
Definition
Edible landscaping is the use of food-producing plants
in the residential landscape. It combines fruit and nut
trees, berry bushes, vegetables, herbs, edible flowers,
along with ornamental plants into aesthetically pleasing
designs. These designs can adopt any garden style and
may include anywhere from 1 to 100 percent edible
specimens.
Things to Consider
● Location
Most fruits and vegetables require 6 to 8 hours of
sun to produce well. Some of the native plants,
such as salmonberry and thimbleberry, can take
some shade, as can plants that have edible leaves,
like lettuce and kale.
● Space
Be sure to think about the mature size of the plant.
Dwarf or semi-dwarf trees and smaller-sized
shrubs work well in small spaces. Trellises, fences,
and arbors make use of vertical space on which to
grow edible trees, shrubs, and vines.
● Time and Care
Edibles require care at specific phases of their
growth to remain productive. They will require
improved soil, careful watering and fertilizing at
the right times, and vigilant management of
diseases and insects. This is especially true when
the plants are young or just planted.
● Use
Know when to harvest, and be prepared to use the
abundance from your garden.
● Beauty
Ornamental plants offer a wide range of flower
color, foliage shape, texture and leaf color. With a
little research, it is possible to find edibles with the
characteristics you value. For example:
1. Love the pink blossoms on a dogwood tree? An
apple tree has beautiful pink blossoms.
2. Enjoy the shape and deep red color of the
leaves on a Japanese maple? Black elderberry
has lacy, blackish leaves.
3. Like the bright red fall color of burning bush?
Blueberry bushes do the same.
4. Yearn for the big-leaf hostas but don’t have
enough shade? Rhubarb plants add drama in a
sunny location with big leaves.
(source:https://extension.oregonstate.edu ).
Benefits for human psychology
Research shows that gardening is a healthy activity.
Working in the garden provides benefits that include:
1. enjoyment – from the physical activity
2. exercise – physical activity improves your
endurance, strength, mobility and flexibility
3. relaxation – helps you relax and reduce stress levels
4. fresh food – provides you and your family with a
healthy source of inexpensive fresh food
5. appreciation of food growing – provides an
understanding of foods and their origin.
(source:https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/hea
lthyliving/gardening-planning-an-edible-garden ).
Suitable containers for an edible garden
There are varieties of containers that can be adapted for
growing plants. These include:
● old wheelbarrows – these are great because they
can be moved about
● old bathtubs or laundry tubs with holes for
drainage
● plastic and terracotta pots – if these are on castors
they can be moved around easily
● large pots, barrels, large terracotta pipes and
recycled containers
● raised garden beds, which can be purpose-built to
suit your needs.
Where to position an edible garden
The area selected for your edible garden should be flat
and receive reasonable amounts of sunlight and some
shelter from the wind. There should be a garden tap
nearby so you can water plants easily. Make sure the
walking surface will not become slippery.
(source:https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/hea
lthyliving/gardening-planning-an-edible-garden ).
makanan bergizi, dan mempromosikan kehidupan yang
berkelanjutan. Praktik lansekap yang dapat dimakan
dapat diterapkan di tempat umum dan pribadi. Edible
garden dapat dilakukan oleh individu, kelompok
komunitas, bisnis, atau institusi pendidikan." kata Bjorn,
selaku Co-Founder And Managing Director of Edible
Garden Singapore
Plants for Edible Landscaping
There are lots of ways to incorporate food plants into
your landscape. It doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing
process either – edible plants can easily live side-by-side
with ornamental ones. In fact, Creasy says that filling an
entire yard with edible plants would produce “too much
food for most families, not to mention time and work.”
So when seeking edible plants for your landscape, you
should usually think about ways to combine them with
ornamental ones.
Plants that can work in an edible landscape include the
following:
● Herbs. You can grow rosemary, thyme, or
oregano in an herb bed near your house or in
pots on a patio. You can also intersperse herbs
such as basil or oregano with flowers in a
planter, or plant chives around the base of a
mailbox.
● Greens. Lettuce, radishes, and other salad
greens can look nice growing in between the
blossoms in a flower bed. Some “greens” also
come in more colorful varieties (such as yellow
and rainbow chard or red-jewel cabbage) that
look beautiful all on their own.
● Perennial Vegetables. Some vegetables,
including rhubarb, asparagus, and Jerusalem
artichoke, are perennial – once they’ve
Adding some of these to your edible landscape
saves you the trouble of replanting the space in
future years.
Theory edible garden
"Edible Garden helps each individual become more
independent by planting plants on underutilized land
such as in the backyard and others". Edible Garden's
design strategy has many benefits, including improving
food security, boosting growth planted.
● Edible Flowers. Nasturtiums, violas, pansies,
borage, and calendula all have edible blossoms
that are delicious in salads. You can also cook
and eat the buds, blossoms, and tender shoots
of daily plants, or dig them up to harvest the
edible tubers.
● Strawberries. A well-tended strawberry patch
in a sunny spot can produce berries for years.
The smaller Alpine strawberries grow well in
shade and make a pretty, tasty ground cover in
wooded areas.
● Vining Plants. Any kind of vining plant can be
grown on a decorative trellis. Scarlet runner
beans are popular because they’re as good to
look at as they are to eat, but you can grow any
variety of vine-type bean, as well as peas,
squash, tomatoes, and grapes. Smaller cherry
tomatoes can also grow in window boxes or
hanging baskets.
● Fruit and Nut Trees. Fruit and nut trees
provide shade just like the more common oaks
and maples, but they also provide food. In
addition to well-known fruits such as apples,
peaches, and pears, you can grow unusual
varieties like pawpaws, medlars, and
serviceberries, which produce fruits you can’t
find in stores.
● Fruit-Bearing Shrubs. You can replace
ornamental shrubs with fruit-bearing varieties,
such as blueberries, currants, gooseberries, or
bush cherries. Shrub varieties range from
“creeping” types that stay within a foot of the
ground to tall bushes five or six feet in height.
III. Findings
III.a. Case Study No. 1: Mrs. Amaliah’s Edible
Garden
III.a.1 Field Data
Mrs. Amal's edible garden is located at her
residence on Kusbini Street, Kelurahan Klitren, District
Gondokusuman, Yogyakarta City, DIY. Since the
Covid-19 Pandemic, Mrs. Amal has had more time at
home. Mrs. Amal allocates time at home to organize the
garden in her house, to then make it a support for her
family's food needs and as a refreshing area.
The garden in Mrs. Amal's house is divided
into 3 zones as shown below:

skematik zonasi taman di kediaman bu Amal

a: house
I: 1st garden zone
II: 2nd garden zone
II: 3rd garden zone
In each zoning, the conditions of the park are
stones
as follows. as arrangement element
III.a.1.1. First Zone, Backyard

Geometrical approachment

floor plan of backyard and garden behind the backyard (upside)

Geometrical approachment

used roof is used for garden arrangement

Geometrical approachment
used roof is used for garden arrangement The Ducks in their cage

Dishwashing area

Waste water system

Egg Shells as pests repellent (left), Pond (right)

Used roofs as garden arrangement element

Gravels as garden arrangement material verticulture practice

 The types of plants that exist in zone 1 (the
garden behind the house of Mrs. Amal) are plants that
need to be monitored related to the moisture content in
the soil, shading and lighting on the plants; such as
chilies, tomatoes, eggplant, ruku-ruku, suji, pandanus,
moringa, spinach, mulberry, Japanese papaya, taro,
simbar menjangan, and celery. In zone 2 of the garden
behind Ms. Amal's house, there are 3 ducks placed in a
Shrubs planted around the big plants
cage. Mrs. Amal uses duck eggs for consumption. Duck
egg shells are used to repel snail pests.

III.a.1.2. Second Zone, Front yard

Shrubs planted around the big plants

Floor plan of front yard (upside)

Shrubs planted around the big plants

Diversity of the plant type

The arrangement for decorative garden is using gravels and used

roofs.
Big trees in the decorative garden

Used roofs as garden arrangement material

 III.a.1.3. Second Zone, Behind the Backyard

Second zone arrangement

floor plan of backyard and garden behind the backyard (upside)

Second zone arrangement

The connection between building view and garden arrangement

Kecombrang (left) and red pati ganyong (right). Waste of leaves are
used for composting
Circulation as consideration

Aesthetical role of garden

Most of the types of plants in zone 2 (the garden in front

of Mrs. Amal's house) are plants that function as garden
decorations, there are also plants that can be consumed;
such as kecombrang, mango, flower telang, and
beluntas. This type of plant in zone 2 (in front of Mrs.
Amal's garden) doesn't really need attention as in the
first zone garden. When Mrs. Amal watered the plants, Red pati ganyong and white pati ganyong, usually cultivated become
Mrs. Amal was at the same time basking in the morning noodle
sun.
Pohon pepaya (kanan) dan limbah batang pohon pisang (kiri) yang
kemudian dijadikan sebagai media tanam.

tanaman kathuk, baik untuk dikonsumsi oleh ibu menyusui.

Most of the plants in zone 2 (in front of Mrs.

Amal's garden) are edible plants; such as butter avocado,
kethuk banana, plantain, papaya tree, passion fruit,
mulberry, daluman, red canna starch, and white canna
starch. These types of plants do not need as much
attention as in the first zone garden. The level of need
for attention, ranks middle between the first zone and
the third zone.

Tanaman daluman, biasa bu Amal olah menjadi cincau. III.a.1.4. Third Zone, Across the Front Gate

Floor Plan of Garden Across the Front Gate (upside)

 Dry leaf litter is allowed to decompose so that it can be used as
The use of tile material for garden arrangement
compost.

Penataan taman dengan pertimbangan sirkulasi

Shrubs (left) are used to limit garden territory


Leaf litter container (right) which is then used as humus soil for
plant nutrition
Shrubs as a barrier to the park's territory
Most of the types of plants in zone 3 (the
garden opposite the front of Mrs. Amal's house) are
edible plants; such as cashews, and peanuts. These types
of plants do not require attention as in the first and
second zone gardens. The level of need for attention,
ranks last after the first zone and the third zone.
III.a.2 Interview Transcript_have not translated
yet
Bayem, kangkung, cabe, tomat, kenikir, daun singkong,
labu siam, gambas, pare. Zona 1. Dipetik tiap hari dan
mendapat perhatian. Pagi siang sore disirami. Ketika
tanah kering, disiram. Kalo yg paling belakang itu zona
2. Pohon pisang, alpukat. Tidak memerlukan perhatian
tiap saat. Seminggu sekali, sebulan sekali. Pohon
pepaya. Depan juga zona 2. Depan sendiri itu sama
sekali tidak mendapat perhatian, sesuai dengan musim.
Kalo kemarau ngga disirami, kalo musim hujan ga perlu
khawatir air menggenang. Kacang tanah, umbi2an,
empon2. Zona 3 ditempatkan di area yang jauh sendiri.
Untuk sayur, kebutuhan udah terpenuhi. Bayem dipetik
tiap hari, kangkung 3 hari sekali, kenikir stiap hari. Pare
gambas tiap hari ngambil. Menanam yang musim
harian, bulanan, tahunan. Harian: kangkung, bayem,
kenikir, labu siam. Bulanan pisang. Pepaya harian, dari
daun, buah muda. Pisang dari jantungnya, dari batang
tengahnya, batang tengahnya bisa dimakan. Mangkokan
bisa dimakan, buat lalapan. Kecombrang. Pernah ada
situasi nggak panen harian, tapi cadangan cukup. Daun
beluntas bisa.
Tanaman itu sumber serat, sumber enzim, dan
antioksidan. Suji untuk cincau. Enzim itu zat hidup yang
dibutuhkan untuk pencernaan tubuh. Makanan itu paling
baik itu diproses seminimal mungkin. Rebus baik,
namun lebih baik dikukus. Penghuni rumah ada 4 orang.
Kalau hasil panen berlebih, bisa kemudian dibarter atau
ditukar dengan uang. Alpukat dijual 100rb/3kg
termasuk ongkir di dalam ringroad. Itu ditawarkan pada
orang-orang yang bu Amal kenal. Tanpa barter pun,
hasil panen pun selalu mencukupi. Kalau anak-anak
bosan, dan tanamannya tidak ada karena kendala iklim,
baru beli di luar. Bu Amal dan anak-anak tak harus
makan nasi, sebulan hanya butuh 5kg. bisa diganti roti,
mie hasil olahan pati ganyong, atau buah. Pisang penyet
pake meses udah cukup. sebelum pandemi, bu Amal
lebih sering bekerja di kantor, di kantor, lanskap kebun
tak semasif kebun bu Amal. Bagi bu Amal, kebun itu
penting untuk refreshing. Bu Amal adalah orang yang
fleksibel, mudah untuk menemukan kesenangan.
Sebelum pandemi, bu Amal lebih sering ke luar.
Sebelum pandemi, bu Amal sudah fokus ke edible
garden tapi tidak seintens ketika pandemi. Adanya
edible garden itu berpengaruh bagi bu Amal untuk
mengisi waktu dengan kegiatan yang bermanfaat.
Kenikir, kemangi ada di zon 1. Empon-empon di zona
3. Pisang ditempatkan di luar agar tidak mengganggu
aspek estetika. Sebab pisang juga
perkembangbiakannya sering. Yang di zona 1 karena
mudah untuk dicek, sesuai dengan urgensi taman untuk
diperhatikan.
III.b. Case Study No. 2: Mrs Koco’s Edible
Garden
One of the case studies we took came from
Mrs. Koco's Edible garden, she used the small land in
front of her house as a place to grow plants such as
vegetables and flowers. There are approximately 23
types of plants in the edible garden at Mrs. Koco's house.
And in the backyard there is a chicken drum and
compost as fertilizer for plants. According to Mrs. Koco
why does her garden look very well maintained and the
quality of the plants is good because Mrs. Koco makes
her own fertilizer which consists of 2 types of compost
and liquid fertilizer. Compost was made by herself to
optimize expenses and income when buying compost
outside

The plants at Ibu Koco's house are very influential in

fulfilling her food needs, and it just so happens that Ibu
Koco is also really happy to care for plants because
according to her, besides her hobby, plants can also
make mprove her air quality at home

III.b.1. Site Plan and Information

III.b.2. Front Yard Photos

III.b.3. Backyard Photos

IV. Analysis
V. References

Laoli, Noverius and Anjaeni, Rahma (2020, Mei 11)

This is the impact of the corona virus on the stability of
Indonesia's financial system. Accessed on 30 November
2020 via:
https://nasional.kontan.co.id/news/begini-dampak-
virus-corona-pada-stabilitas-sistem-keuangan-
indonesia

BKP (2020). The use of yards prevents a food crisis

amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Accessed on 30
November 2020 via:
http://bkp.pertanian.go.id/blog/post/pemanfaatan-
pekarangan-cegah-krisis-pangan-di-tengah-pandemi-
covid-19

Joga, Nirwono (2020, June 26). The meaning of the

garden in the new normal : the meaning of the garden in
the new normal. Accessed on 30 november 2020 via
:https://koran.tempo.co/read/opini/454619/arti-taman-
di-masa-normal-baru

Low, Bjorn (2019, September 4). Theory edible

garden. Accessed on 30 november 2020 via :
https://kumparan.com/kumparanfood/edible-garden-
city-upaya-masyarakat-singapura-menanam-makanan-
1rnVqKY0rj9/full