Harvesting some common ground
A GARDEN shared is a garden halved. Well work-wise that is.
But two households who joined forces to grow organic produce say it's double the rewards when it comes to reaping the healthy benefits of a shared vegetable patch.
LOCAL chef and cooking teacher Penny Maguire is happy to make the trip from her suburban Tewantin block to her friend's Eumundi acreage to enjoy the delights of getting her hands into the soil and having the choice of no spray, no chemical produce for the family's meals and her cooking classes.
The gardening venture, which at times provides produce for up to five families, was started about three years ago.
Penny's gardening partner Vince Milne said he and his wife Kylie had the land there and it just seemed like a good idea.
Their organic philosophy starts at grassroots level. Keen to avoid any link to genetically-modified food, they start with the seed.
"We use a variety of non-hybrid old heirloom seeds," Vince said.
"There's a great guy at Yandina markets who sells them."
Anything that self-seeds, such as lettuces, lives forever.
"It's the never-ending lettuce," Penny said.
In order to control rain in the wet season, the vegetables are grown on mounds and mulch is made from grass clippings. Fertiliser comes from chicken and cow manure and Penny is a fan of companion planting. In particular she favours marigold flowers.
She also makes an organic brew that includes crushed garlic as an organic pesticide.
Vince said he had never timed their working hours on the garden, but thought it added up to about four hours a month.
