Kitchen Garden

Before...

When Josh and Laura lived with Nanny in 2010-11, they built a sturdy raised bed and grew some wonderful produce. Josh's student job at Slegg Lumber in Sidney taught him that at the back of every lumber yard there's usually stacks of 'seconds' no longer suitable for retail sale. On seeing the price of large-dimension lumber at the yard in Hobart, Josh asked if they had some 'seconds' and was directed to the perfect material at a bargain price. He and Laura established their garden at the end of Nanny's driveway and it provided them with wonderful veggies year-round.

Since they left, Nanny has nurtured a few potatoes, beets and strawberries but much of the bed lay fallow when we arrived, so it was an early priority to get it back into production. Thinking of our rich home-made compost pile at home, I chuckled as we forked over cash for bags of commercially produced material here. Who knew I'd one day pay $8.50 for a bag of dirt! It looks, feels and smells so good though. I'm sure it will be worth every penny once it imparts its nutrients to our crop.

… After

It only took an hour to turn the entire bed over, remove the weeds, dig in the compost material and have the plot ready for planting. Another hour of planting and watering and Josh and Laura's garden bed is back in production. Peas, beans, lettuce, squash, and a variety of herbs. So satisfying!

Our attempts at veggie gardening in North Saanich always met with mixed results. For a few years we'd go to the trouble of prepping the soil, planting and nurturing for a few weeks, then abandon home and garden for at least a month of sailing up the coast, returning to a garden gone wild.

A couple of summers when we stayed at home, we planted potatoes, carrots and corn. Our twisted, stunted carrots alerted us to the fact that there is something in North Saanich soil that doesn't agree with carrots. We attempted to defy the odds with potatoes, but the dreaded golden nematode quickly discovered our plot and our second crop of pathetic spuds was our last. As for our corn, 16 seeds grew into tall lush plants that produced healthy husky husks. However the night before our planned harvest, racoons discovered the crop and wiped it out while we slept just meters away! Previous struggles to compete with native species in our forest garden had seen the same family of racoons systematically slaughter 3 successive flocks of chickens. In recent years we've largely given up on chickens and veggies. Here's hoping our Tassie garden will re-inspire us :-)

Tasmania's rich and diverse soils are best demonstrated at the supermarket potato bin.