My own tomatoes
Credit: Julie G
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Last time we talked about how to check labels on your food to find out if it's local to you. But honestly, I get a bit tired of all the fine print sometimes. Once I've found a brand I trust that's in my range, I don't have to look anymore, but it still can take a while to figure out in the first place.
Luckily, I've got a source of totally local food very close to me: my own vegie patch. This summer I've got tomatoes, basil, crookneck squash, cucumbers, capsicum and rockmelons all taking over the back quarter of my little yard. I've also got pumpkins trying to take over the whole place, but that was an accident caused by putting pumpkin scraps in my compost!
I'm also lucky enough to have a neighbour who's a retired market gardener. He's got a fantastic vegie patch at his place: garlic, onions, zucchini, tomatoes (his look nicer than ours, I'll admit), watermelon and so on.
Every now and then when he's got a glut we'll come home to find a pumpkin on the doorstep, or a bag of tomatoes. On top of that, he's got gardening friends, and when they give him too much food he passes it on to us: we got two bags full of delicious sweet peaches a little while ago, we hardly knew what to do with so much fruit!
I'm hoping that our little garden will soon be productive enough to return the favour to him. I really like the little chats we have and it feels so neighbourly to be sharing food this way.
If you're having trouble sourcing local food, why not try growing some of your own? It doesn't have to be hard, a bit of compost, some seedlings in a sunny spot, regular watering and you're good to go.
Tomatoes and capsicums are easy, and so are herbs like basil and parsley and mint. Pick one or two of your favourites and you'll be thrilled with how much better they taste than the store-bought stuff, that's been cold-stored and trucked around the country.
I'd love to hear from you if you've already got your own vegie patch - what's growing well this season? Got any tips for beginners?
Comments
I live in inner city Melbourne with a tiny concrete courtyard, but have managed to put together quite a decent vegetable/herb garden. I was so pleased in December / January when I had a bumper crop of ripening tomatoes, around 6 little green lemons - the first ever on my potted lemon tree, loads of basil, capsicums, chillis, lettuces, garlic and strawberries. However, one morning in January I discovered that my whole garden had been completely annihilated by possums. They ate everything. I was devastated. All that nurturing wasted. But determined not to give in, I went out and bought chicken wire and kept the watering up. Soon a second crop of tomatoes, capsicums and chillis were just appearing. Thinking that I had got the better of the pesky possums, I left the tomatoes on the vine behind the chicken wire to ripen, only to wake up again to a destroyed garden. The possums live in nearby Carlton Gardens and always will, so the option of relocating the possums is not a viable one. Are there any hints and tips to protecting vegetables, herbs and fruit from possum attacks? I believe this problem is experienced throughout inner and suburban Melbourne.
How about a dog?
Pooch wouldn't have to be there all the time, just long enough for the word to get around in Possum Town. A few nights to get doggy scent about the place and to give uninvited visitors a fright would probably be worth a try. Terriers are fabulous at the totally nuts intruder alert response.
Do you have any doggy friends or neighbours who would be able to help you establish a doggy presence around your precious veges. (I'd avoid labradors though, I've known a few who were happy to eat all sorts of fruit and veg!)
Pooch would need a warm, sheltered place to sleep with easy access to the yard. As the dog will be in unfamiliar territory, it will probably be very reactive to any noise or movement around the place. A few friendly visits before a real sleep-over would be a kindness to the dog, giving it a chance to feel safe with you and in your space.
Good luck!
Anne
How disappointing for you! I looked this up and the only reliable thing that anyone recommends seems to be having floppy-topped fences: this document from the South Australian government describes how best to build one www.environment.sa.gov.au/bidodiversity/pdfs/possum_in_my_garden.pdf
But I'm not sure if that's any different from what you're already doing! If anyone else in Melbourne has found a solution, feel free to let us know!