Cabbages, pumpkin and kale are just three of the fruits and vegetables growing thickly in Connor Lynch's backyard in O'Connor - just one of many local efforts to improve nutrition with simple changes in the home.
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Not just for "foodies", the humble vegie patch has been making a comeback in recent years, and the 25-year-old University of Canberra nursing student believes his own efforts have helped him and his housemates boost their fruit and vegetable intake - and save money.
The CSIRO on Monday released yet another study showing Australians are not eating enough fruit and vegetables.
Some 145,000 Australians shared their thoughts as part of their CSIRO-Horticulture Innovation Australia Fruit, Vegetable and Diet Score report, showing 51 per cent were not meeting the recommended daily intake of fruit and 66 per cent were not eating the recommended amount of vegetables either.
CSIRO research director Dr Manny Noakes said the surveyed showed despite many people believing they were healthy, most were not actually getting all the nutrients they needed for a balanced diet.
She said increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables people eat was one of the easiest things they could do to reduce their risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and one-third of all cancers.
"Diets high in fruit and vegetables have been shown to improve psychological and physical markers of wellbeing," she said.
"In particular, phytochemicals from fruit and vegetables reduce systemic inflammation which can lead to chronic disease."
Among the fig, apricot and pear trees, nasturtiums, asparagus and leeks, Mr Lynch said since he started his first vegetable garden about six years ago, a move he believed was the biggest shift in his life helping him to eat more vegetables and fruit.
"I think for me, it's also partly being involved in the local food movement and liking to know things are organic and naturally-produced," he said.
"But it's also helped me more generally to shift towards a more plant-based diet, knowing that there's plenty of fresh food in the backyard means I'm more tempted to eat it."
He said while he still ate meat, he was eating a healthier amount of it than he did before starting gardening.
"Plus there's the added saving of knowing that, you know, you might go to the shops and pay several dollars for some basil or something, but if that's growing in your garden, it's much cheaper," he said.
"They say you don't need much actual land to be self-sufficient, and while we're not at that stage, we're definitely eating a lot more of our own food and we're also eating more varieties of different things as well."
How healthy is your diet?
Take the free CSIRO Health Diet Score test here.
