Karen's Story

Karen I grew up in country Victoria, in a family of farmers and home vegetable gardeners.
I was always going to be a gardener; my mother dug the whole garden over the day I was born and I made my first vegetable garden at 8 years old, digging up a disused section of the back garden.

I have hardly ever eaten store bought tomato sauce in my life. Most of my relatives preserved fruit, made jams, jellies, chutneys and sauces. Surplus was shared, whether as fresh produce or jars of someone’s speciality.

I was lucky to have had a country family upbringing, but many of us today have lost the art of knowing what to do with the fruits of our garden, if we even have any. We may be uncertain how to start a vegetable garden or herb patch, or what sort of fruit trees to plant. We may think we don’t have enough space, or the right conditions. And we are all aware now more than ever of the need to reduce our impact on our fragile environment

In Australia, from 20-25% of our greenhouse gases (depending on which sources you look at) are generated by the commercial production (mostly non-organic) and transport of the food we eat. So every time we walk into our back garden for fresh parsley, or share our excess apricots with friends, neighbours or relatives, we reduce our personal greenhouse contribution. Any amount of food we manage to grow is a plus for the environment at large, especially if we grow it organically.

It’s time for a new kind of suburban garden, one that feeds us, body and soul, and is sustainable in these times of climate change, irregular rain and temperature. The enormity of the changes that we need to make can seem overwhelming, but we can begin the way all the best changes are made; gradually.

We need to (re)learn:

the variety of plants which can be used for food and can take their place in the garden

the ability to use excess fruits, by preserving them in various ways (eg dried fruits, sun-dried tomatoes, home dried basil, bottled peaches, apricot jam, etc) so that we extend their harvest time
what plants to grow to give you permanent or long-term harvests and harvests throughout the year.
how to find salads from all sorts of plants hiding in the garden.
how to grow plants that act as fertilisers
how you can grow food even in a small space or shady situation

Why not create a garden that looks good and feeds us throughout the year, with space for rest, play and produce? Let me help you to design your own Edible Eden that can sustain yourself, your family and friends.