I am probably the worst gardener in the world, name a plant, and I’ve probably killed it usually by forgetting to water it.
Strangely enough, both my parents and grandparents were (and still are) fantastic green thumbs. Our family always had terrific vegetable gardens. In the summer we never needed to buy tomatoes, basil, eggplants (aubergine), zucchini, capsicums, chilli peppers or any other variety of Mediterranean vegetables. We always had figs and grapes in the summer and fennel or broccoli in the winter.
My mother still has endless flowering plants decorating the outside of her house everything from roses to succulents and anything in between. My dearly departed Nonna Carmela grew flowers in her front yard. I still remember going out to check the mail, the perfume of her violets and the stunning antique white roses which lined the pathway.
My first steps were on a farm in Serpentine Jarrahdale a few hours south-east of the capital of Perth WA, filled with animals and plants. Then when it was time to start school I moved to five minutes from the CBD in Victoria Park. Luckily with the luxury of large quarter acre blocks of land in the Australia of the 1980’s, there was always space for an abundant vegetable patch behind the house.
Later moving to the semi-rural Swan Valley in Western Australia I grew up with the habit of eating fresh farm vegetables together with local table grapes, rockmelons and watermelons.
The Italian community always had the habit of planting their own fruit and vegetables a tradition which persisted and was shared with extended family and friends. There were bags filled with the first tomatoes from whoever was able to harvest first. Or bunches of platted garlic or onions from an overabundant crop. Kilos of broad beans or peas waiting to be shelled and frozen after a bumper year. And if someone knew your lettuce had been decimated by snails or rotted by fungus they’d likely give you some of theirs.
Since moving to Sicily, I can’t say I’ve suddenly inherited the gardening gene, but I have become more passionate about the art of gardening. A garden is a place of reflection, there is a sense of peace which connects you to the rhythms of the natural world.
I love planting things and watching them grow. Growing things is like planting the seed of an idea in your mind and seeing it develop into its ultimate form. As a mother, a writer and creative I can see the obvious connections between the fertility of the natural world and that of the mind.
I love to spend my summers in the vegetable garden, planting, nurturing and watching everything grow. Every year I happily take my son into the garden and teach him about the different plants, herbs and vegetables and show him how to prepare them and enjoy them in his food.
There is a deep connection between my memories and the garden, every time I am there I feel connected to my ancestors who went through these same rituals.
I love my garden and labour incessantly there but somehow the finer points escape me and I either overwater or underwater and I never know which I’m doing! But occasionally, things work out, and this year I have beans, tomatoes, raspberries, courgettes and cucumbers, as well as a fairly good show of roses. I’m amazed at my own skills!
Good for you! Sometimes it depends on how your weather is going, we’ve had years with good, bumper crops and others with terrible ones. It depends mostly on mother nature 😉
Don’t worry, it’s not you – it takes a lot of knowledge to know which plants prefer a lot of water and which plants less. I am still learning after many years, but luckily more of my plants are surviving now! Nothing better that a truly fresh tomato with fresh basil!
Yes, I think it takes a lot of trial and error. I’ve learned for example tomatoes don’t need very much water at all, while potatoes at first need a lot but then as they mature you need to stop watering them else they will go rotten.