The Giving Garden

My grandfather was a hardworking, resourceful man.  A very keen gardener, I think it is this hobby that brought him the most joy (aside from spending time with his grandchildren). The front of his house was filled with thriving rose bushes, geraniums and daisies.  His lawn was perfectly manicured and resembled a bowling green -the perfect place for my sister and I to play bocce with him as little girls.  However, it was the backyard of his home that was most impressive… his vegetable garden.

This plot took up his entire backyard (not including the large chicken coop and his shed) and was almost like a mini-market garden of sorts smack bang in the middle of the Fremantle suburb where he lived.  Rich soil, built up with manure shovelled across from his chook pen grew anything and everything.  Masses of various produce… chiccory, butter beans, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, basil and many other vegetables were carefully tended to and flourished.  I can still recall the bundle of twigs he had fashioned into a ‘swatter’ of sorts for cabbage moths.  It sat leaning against his shed ready to be grabbed as needed.    Meals cooked by my Nonna all incorporated fresh ingredients of some variety. When it came to vegetables, home grown was the only way.

Those who visited left with cartons of glorious free-range eggs and bags of whatever was currently in abundance in his patch.  A bunch of beautiful de-thorned roses was often brought home too after a visit and would brighten the corner of my Mum’s kitchen over the coming week as each bloom slowly unfolded.

Fast forward all these years and I find myself thinking often of my Grandpa’s impressive vegetable patch and garden as I potter about in our own.  As well as growing organic produce for my own little family and seeing the enjoyment Grace and Sophie get out of helping tend to our little plot, it is the giving and sharing aspect of a garden that I strive for.  I dream of being able to wave visitors off with a container of cherry tomatoes, a handful of passion fruit or a bag of lettuce leaves.  At the moment, having only just replanted our vegetable patch out this winter, offerings are few and far between... a bag of lemons, some Double Delight blossoms (the last before they are pruned) or a bunch of parsley seem to be all I can share at the moment.

One day though, I hope our garden will be able to give so much more to so many more and that just like my Grandpa, I will be able to gain the same sense of pleasure from sharing a little bit of our garden with loved ones and neighbours...

The Evolution Of A Family Garden

When we bought and moved into our house eight and half years ago, the garden was already well established and the lawn lush and perfectly kept.  And while it was neat and tidy and visually pleasing, gradually, changes were made here and there to make it more us.  As we pulled out shrubs past their used-by date, straggly day-lilies and overgrown daisies, we began to have more of an idea of our vision. Old woody roses gave way to Double Delight and Iceberg varieties.  A mish-mash of cottage style plants was replaced by a row of ornamental plums, lavender bushes and a Poinciana tree.  An abundant but awkwardly placed herb garden was relocated and an adjacent sandy patch of yard turned into a sweet little vegetable plot.  

For the past few years, there's been much waiting... waiting for things we'd planted to take off and to fill in gaps... to grow so that they looked as though they had been there all along... to look like what we'd envisaged from day one. Finally, after several years, lots of planning and much hard work, we're feeling closer to that point.  As I hang out washing, I smile at the Cottonwood Hibiscus bushes which in under a year, are already peeking over our fence.  While I am sipping a cup of tea at the kitchen table, I look proudly out the window at our lemon tree, the branches of which are currently weighed down with an abundance of fruit. I pull into our driveway greeted by a show of pink roses, with blooms bigger and brighter than any year to date.

Gradually, as well as changing visually, our garden has evolved to suit not only our taste, but also our needs. Nowadays, with two little ones running around, it has come to feel like another 'room' in our house. It is where sandcastles are built and 'cakes' are baked in the sand patch... where fairy gardens are tended to and imaginations run wild... where Asha is cuddled and shown affection.  I love that I find garden gnomes hidden among the lettuce leaves in the vegetable patch and flowers poked optimistically into bare patches of earth in the hope they will grow. Paths are covered in chalk drawings. Balls and gumboots and watering cans lie on the lawn.

Our garden looks not only more established, but 'lived in' and enjoyed and much more like a family garden...

Lazy Sunday

Hope you all had a lovely Sunday. After doing some jobs around the house, I popped down to our local nursery and bought a few plants for our patio to put with the gorgeous pale blue hydrangea above. Now we just need to get some pots for them. We also paid a visit to the annual George Street Festival in East Fremantle where we wandered around looking at the many stalls. Today, I have a busy morning of Christmas present hunting ahead of me. Wish me luck!!

Patio Plants

Image from here

I’ve always loved the courtyard in the photo above. I love the way the greenery contrasts so beautifully with the brickwork. I’m hoping to make it to the nursery tomorrow to buy some plants for our newly paved patio. I’ve already bought a beautiful pale blue hydrangea and now I’m after something with white flowers. Will post some ‘after’ pics of our patio soon. Hope you all have a great start to the weekend.

Hydrangea Display

This photo was taken in the garden at Cataract Gorge in Launceston, Tasmania. I was amazed at the way such varied shades of hydrangeas were growing so closely together. I would love to have a potted white hydrangea with its lush green foliage on our patio once the new paving is complete. However, something I read made me think that perhaps hydrangeas were toxic to humans. Has anyone else heard of this? I am hoping I am wrong…