Creating our ‘Garden of Eating’

Being Italian, the influence of my parents’ green thumb exploits was irresistable. Kellie’s parents are also garden enthusiasts. Yet, despite having this wealth of knowledge at our disposal, when the time arrived for us to turn that first sod of virgin soil, we realised how little we knew.

To be fair, Kellie had done some research and provided the early inspiration to commence the project. However, for myself, when the time came to start digging, my recollection of how my gardening guru parents approached vegetable growing was: a) dig/turn over soil; b) plant seeds and/or seedlings; c) pick vegetables. There didn’t seem to be much else to it.

However, we soon found out that a great deal of preparation and continuing commitment is required if your vegetable patch is going to be a success. (I can hear seasoned gardeners everywhere saying "Oh really!".)

The first step was determining where to set up the ‘patch’. We needed to find a spot which received ample sunlight but also provided adequate shading for those vegetables which prefer not to sunbake all day.

Once the spot was chosen it was time to dig. Given that our lawn is comprised solely of couch grass, this proved to be a lengthier task than originally anticipated. Eventually we got there (1 broken spade and 2 broken rakes later!).

The next step was to work out what to plant. When packing for a trip, it is said that you should take out what you think you need and then halve it. The same principle should apply to gardening.

Like most people who get carried away on a wave of enthusiasm the first time they try something new, our trip to the nursery saw us purchase a bit of everything. From five different varieties of tomatoes to corn, eggplant to capsicum, pumpkin to three varieties of cucumber, basil to chives, zucchini to three varieties of lettuce, onions to broccoli, cauliflower to peppers, beans to snow peas; all were going to be well represented in our garden of ‘eating’.

However we quickly learned that:

a) different plants require different approaches e.g. corn requires lots of water, tomatoes don’t, and keeping track of all of this vital information proved more difficult than keeping up to date with the latest Cheryl Kernot/Gareth Evans soap opera;

b) if everything does take off, who is going to eat it all?

Next job was to prepare the soil, a particularly important task. While virgin soil has a lot of the qualities and nutrients required for a healthy vegetable garden (well that is what dad told me anyway), it is still important to supplement the soil. Compost is the best way of doing this. As we hadn’t made an investment in a compost bin yet, we purchased a 100 percent organic compost from the nursery. However, we have now started our own compost heap and it is getting almost as much attention as the garden itself.

And talking about attention, a vegetable garden requires plenty. After planting all our seeds (and I mean ALL of them) most of the following months were spent watering, staking, tying, powdering, pruning, weeding, raking and finally, picking. First time garden growers need to discipline themselves to meet the needs of their garden, as a crop is lost quicker than it is created.

I became so obsessed with our garden, that I would often return home from work, rush out the back (barely acknowledging Kellie) and inspect the garden area, chastising the birds for eating our best vegies and picking up handfuls of soil to ensure the right amount of moisture was present.

Yet despite all the hardwork and setbacks, the satisfaction we found in stepping out into the backyard and picking fresh produce as it sprouted from every corner of our newly formed vegie patch proved to be a reward worth suffering for. And I have since relaxed my vigilante approach to garden maintenance.

As for the taste, well it makes me think that the vegetables we purchase in the supermarkets are, in fact, concentrated water.

Anyway, must go now. The winter vegies are looking OK, but spring’s not that far away so must start preparing the ‘patch’ for the crop of 2002/03.