After completing our Permaculture Design Certificates we were still some time away from moving to Tassie, so as a positive move in the right direction we started to grow food in our current urban environment. We visited the local Hawkesbury EarthCare Centre and joined the organic gardening club that was based there (Henry Doubleday Research Association). I can’t tell you how beneficial it was spending a few hours each Saturday volunteering in their garden, learning from members that had years and years of experience.
The first thing we did was start composting to build soils, so we never had to purchase any. We had a good amount of lawn clippings, fallen leaves and weeds to compost, and the neigbhours didn’t mind us sweeping up their dead leaves either! With this plus our food scraps, ash from the fire, vacuum cleaner dust and a load of shredded office paper, it didn’t take long to build enough healthy soil using the 18 day Berkely method.
In the meantime, we started sprouting mung beans, alpalpa and pea sprouts in the window sill. I couldn’t believe how easy, quick and cheap these were to grow, let alone the health benefits!
Because space for growing veges at our rental property was limited, we increased our growing space by using broccoli boxes (free from the local green grocer).
We’ve found the broccoli boxes to be suitable for pretty much anything; brassicas, tomatoes, herbs, bok choy and lettuce, even squash grew well in the broccoli boxes!
In only a few months over 20 herbs and veges were thriving in this small garden space, and we found growing our own food to be so rewarding that we knew we would be doing it for the rest of our lives.
It’s impossible not to smile when you can walk out the front door and pick enough fresh produce for a stirfry!
Our first attempt at eggplant wasn’t too successful, however on the second attempt, by positioning it in the sunniest part of the garden, surrounded by flowers to attract bees, well what can I say – we’re still eating last season’s eggplant preserved in chilli, garlic and parsley from the garden!
We've learned so much by starting small, and can now take at least some practical growing experience to Tassie. There is still so much to learn, which is exciting rather than daunting because we've witnessed the rewards.
