One Response to “Episode 5 | Voodoo Lilly | MMM Echium | The Berwick Food Bowl – One listeners story | Coriander..”

1. The Bird from Berwick
   March 27th, 2009 @ 8:49 am

   Hi there Riley and the Diggits,
   Sounds like a good name for a band! This is an UPDATE FROM THE so named BERWICK FOOD BOWL. I live on a largish suburban block and aiming to grow as much fruit and veg as possible. Well we have survived heat wave and high winds (up to 46C) and droughts (Victoria Australia Jan –Feb 09) I have managed to keep all plants alive, all except a newly planted Kiwi vine (the one I had to order in of course!).
   This Summer/ Autumn harvest in my 3 year old garden includes: vegies- potatoes, lettuce (heaps of), capsicum, tomatoes, kale, spring onion, a lg crop of garlic, pumpkins, gourds, silver beet, spinach, parsley, rhubarb, Jerusalem artichoke, rocket and cabbages. Fruit; about 10kgs of blood plums (from an existing tree, gallons of jam and chutney/sauce etc has been made), figs (from a two year old tree) providing several kgs a week at present (march 09), Tamarillos (still haven’t worked out what to do with them!, a bucket of passion fruit (from a 6mth old vine!), Olives (I intend on getting a lesson on pickling from my Greek friends mother!), Limes, grapefruit, blood orange and lemons, cumquats and almonds (my apples have a bad case of coddling moth).
   Its not that impressive however it is incredible how much produce even a very young garden can produce, it is very encouraging! I have planted fruit trees in a lot of my veggies garden spaces (I just couldn’t help myself! I am in the habit of rescuing pot bound fruit trees from my local nursery which when planted in prime soil full of compost and with lots of love are thriving!) so now I am in the process of converting some of my flower beds into a vegie garden! I have also become very creative and utilized the 1 foot wide space in the middle of a disused concrete drive way, so desperate was I to find space for my heirloom tomatoe seedlings that had come up in abundance! I prepared the soil in an afternoon (cant fuss when you have a toddler) by digging over the strip of lawn and dumping the well manured wood shavings (about 3 barrows full) directly from my chook pen on it and a few days later planting and there after staking. Even though surrounded by concrete and hardly watered they are thriving! Tough buggers those tommies!

   What I haven’t grown myself I have been able to trade with friends and family. Within my immediate family including an Aunt we have 4 veggies gardens (I help manage my dads garden). We all have our specialties and we all trade casually (i.e. we never visit empty handed) including with eggs, preserves seed and seedlings/cuttings etc. I also supply my neighbors and friends with excess seed, seedlings, cuttings and fruit and veg and preserves hoping they will do the same! Its a fabulous way to build community and save money! There is a neighbor down the road from me that I’ve never met that puts out bags of lemons outside her fence with a sign ‘free please take’ nice huh!. I think of my garden as a resource and a place of peace and enjoyment, and abundance! With a little bit of know how and quite a lot of determination its amazing what can be achieved. I still have a long way to go to reaching my semi self sufficiency goals but i do a bit each year and slowly get there. Apart from the fruit and veg, this year I am installing Solar Panels (with the help of the generous government rebate), last year I had my Grey water re plumed and next year I plan to purchase water tanks……if only I had land…..and a bloke….or money…. think what I could do!
   Anyway if I can do what I have as a sole parent with two young children on a pension and a suburban block there is no excuses!!

   Happy digging and try out the age old system of barter!

   Benita
   Berwick
   Vic, Australia

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