In My Garden - Lucas and Julie March 2020

The Food Garden Group was going to visit the garden of Lucas, Julie and Verna (Julie's mother) at Kettering the following week, when the visit had to be cancelled due to the Coronavirus. Many thanks to Lucas for forwarding photos + texts for an In My Garden post, so we can see and enjoy their garden even though the visit never took place.  

Our garden is on a saddle between Kettering and Oyster Cove. Being on high ground, the soils are very poor and rocky. Because it is in the bush the garden is quite shaded, especially in winter.

Our garden reflects the preferences of previous owners and includes natives, exotics, and vegetables.

The chook run in the background is netted to reduce predation by raptors.

The Scarlett Runner beans in the foreground are a favoured crop. We collect and dry the beans which make a creamy, tasty, and easy to cook protein source. Last year this tree was completed covered in the bean vine. These beans grow in 4 places in the garden and produce enough beans for a whole year. As perennials, and being almost totally pest resistant, they are a great ‘survival’ food crop.

A view of the main (and original) vegetable growing cage in the northern end of the garden, with its three raised beds.

Each bed has an opportunistic mix of vegetable. The short downpipe sections around each seedling help to protect it from pests and accidental damage. This bed has leeks, egg plant, zucchini (3 varieties), pumpkin (3 varieties), tomatoes and cauliflowers.

A view of another raised bed with well established carrot, parsnip and beetroot (hidden) plants, as well as a follow-on crop of the same vegetables in the foreground (which had poor germination rates).

The third bed, on the right, contains 4 varieties of tomato as well as celery, basil and cauliflower (seedlings).

In the south eastern corner is a ‘courtyard’ with plants in pots including kumquat and limes, as well as 4 fruit trees, and strawberries under netting. The fruit trees are Cherry (which produced well this season), Ruby pear (not so good), Fuji pears (photo below - currently producing well) and a new Apricot tree.

The strawberries went well for a while until the lack of adequate water, and compacting soils resulted in poor production.

A view inside the netted area.

To try to get some sun, all our new garden beds are scattered throughout the garden. You’re seeing this without all the netting that is essential to keep out possums and birds.

In this bead you can see Silver Beet (3 varieties), Celery, Cauliflower, Kale, Chilli and Sweet Corn (which is showing great promise).

Sweet Corn – almost ready to harvest if the Cockatoos don’t find it first.

It’s the ‘volunteers’ in the garden that are so much fun even if they pop up in inconvenient places.

The newest beds are in the South East corner of the garden to maximise winter sun. 

In this picture you can see cold climate Sweet Potato, Tree Onions, Pumpkin, Cape Gooseberry (which produces almost constantly), Leeks, Radishes, Egg Plant, Lettuce (3 varieties), Silver Beet (3 varieties), Cauliflower and Cabbage. Some of the dreaded netting is visible in the background.

We harvested a large crop of Pink Eyes and Kennebecs from one of these beds earlier in the season.