Welcome to the Swan Valley's Bush Tucker and Beyond Trail, a unique and fascinating discovery of traditional bush tucker in the region.
The Swan Valley has a rich tradition as a food bowl.
Before European settlement, the alluvial soil lining the meandering course of Derbal Yerrigan (Swan River) was covered in Warrine patches. Warrine are long thin white yams cultivated by Nyoongar people.
The site of All Saints Church in the Swan Valley was a huge Warrine garden. A remnant of these gardens can be seen at Walyunga National Park. In the streams and tributaries joining Derbal Yerrigan, Yanget (Bulrushes) grew. These were burnt to the waterline in Boonooroo (hot season) in preparation for the Djeran (Autumn) harvest, when the fibrous root masses were gathered, roasted, peeled, pounded and made into carbohydrate-rich cakes baked in the ashes.
This was a land providing substantial seasonal food sources for Wadjuk people.
Today you can still search for these foods, but the great harvests are no longer there, instead flourishing with European viticulture and market gardens.
Led by Maalinup, offerings of bush tucker can still be found in the Swan Valley.
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