Visit to Wendy's garden on 13 April 2014

On Sunday 13 April 2014 we visited Wendy's garden at Sandy Bay


Standing in the street and looking towards Wendy's house I could not see much garden, so it was a major revelation when, once I was past the house I saw so much garden that there did not seem to be and end to it. Gardening, the ornamental and the food variety, obviously is a major hobby for Wendy and the results are such that she can be proud of her achievements.

Here Wendy (second from right) welcomes us

In the garden directly behind the house Wendy combines ornamental with vegetables and fruit. She had, for instance, a circle of giant broccolis and a circle of very edible but also very ornamental Kale.

This looks so sculptural, you would not want to cut off any of the leaves

A few years ago Wendy was able to buy a block of around 300 square metre next door, add that to her garden and make it into her main vegetable growing area.

Wendy's veggie patch

 In this area she also has five varieties of berries in a cage.

One bush at the end of each arc and branches hang off the circular pipes

It is clear that Wendy's garden is in a very sheltered spot. We saw avocado, grapefruit, tamarillo and plenty of red capsicums and red peppers.

Red capsicums - a rare site in Tasmanian gardens this summer

With so much garden Wendy needs a lot of compost and she makes it all herself, using a shredder and a lawnmower to cut everything into small bits, two compost bins and a compost heap.

Wendy rotates this compost barrel every day

For me the most amazing vegetable was this Kohlrabi variety called Superschmelz. Other Kohlrabi varieties you pick when they are small, otherwise they become tough. This giant remains so crisp and juicy, you can eat the slices raw, and the flesh is almost like a fruit. Seeds can be bought from

Giant Superschmelz Kohlrabi

See the photo below for info on where to get Kohlrabi Superschmelz seed:

The produce table looked amazing:

Everyone brought something and everyone took something home

And morning tea was great and very tasty:

When most people had left we had a look at Wendy's preserve room. With so much produce, processing it is a hobby in itself, but look at the result:

Many thanks, Wendy for a really enjoyable and informative food garden visit. You are doing an amazing job with such a large garden.

A big thank you also to everyone who brought morning tea and produce. It makes these visits very enjoyable and worthwhile!

This text was previously published on the Food Garden Group blog. It was written by Max Bee.