An interview with Penelope from Queenpenelopespatch on Instagram
Instagram: @Queenpenelopespatch
-----------------------------
More about this episode:
Embark on an enchanting expedition into the lush world of organic gardening with none other than Penelope from Queen Penelope's Patch. Alongside me, your host Gemma, we unveil the tapestry of Penelope's experiences, from her childhood fascination with seeds to her thriving fifteen-year-old garden. Our conversation meanders through the challenges and victories of cultivation, from a once meager and weedy backyard to a verdant paradise boasting 'Raspberry lane' and fruit trees that reach for the sky. Penelope's garden isn't just a feast for the eyes—it's a testament to the miracles that patience and a bit of green-thumbed magic can achieve.
Join us as we share a pot of wisdom on the art of conversation with plants and the secrets of successful harvests. Who knew that listening to your garden's whispers could lead to an abundance of chilies, even in cooler climates? Penelope graciously offers her hard-earned insights into nurturing your greens, from recognizing when they cry out for magnesium to celebrating the self-sufficient joy of homegrown and preserved produce. The warmth of her stories about preserving the fruits of her labor might just inspire you to don your gloves and revitalize your own soil.
In our heart-to-heart, Penelope and I don't shy away from the emotional resonance that gardens hold. We reflect on the gladioli that bloom in remembrance, the once-troublesome mandarin tree that now bursts with life, and the bees that find solace among our flowers. As we share our passion for fostering pollinators, you'll find yourself drawn to the beauty of multi-purpose plants and the profound well-being that blooms from a personal connection with the earth. So, whether you're a seasoned gardener or a budding green thumb, this conversation promises to plant seeds of inspiration and cultivate a deep-rooted love for the natural world.
'How I Grow' is produced by The Seed Collection Pty Ltd.
Find out more about us here: www.theseedcollection.com.au
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to how I Grow with the Seed
Collection.
My name is Gemma and today I'llbe speaking with Penelope from
Queen Penelope's patch onInstagram.
We'll be delving intoPenelope's organic backyard
journey with her and the lessonsshe's learned along the way.
Thank you so much for beingwith us today, penelope.
(00:23):
Hey, gemma, how are you?
I'm well, thank you?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
how are you?
I am blushing like the tomatoesthat are growing in the garden.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Oh, I love it.
I love it.
So excited to be speaking withyou today.
I can't wait to learn moreabout how you grow and, in fact,
after seeing photographs ofyour produce, I actually plan on
taking some notes.
So I guess I'd like to start byasking what inspired you to
garden and why is it importantto you?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
So I've always loved gardening, from the time I was a
child, I would say.
These aunties of mine growlittle flowering plants and
stuff in pots and I like that.
And what intrigued me more thananything else was to be able to
see life grow out of a tinyseed and see it blossom and grow
and just every step of it, likeright from a flower it would
(01:13):
grow into a fruit.
The whole process kind of gotme intrigued and what I learned
from a young age was that Iactually have green fingers,
because every seed that I wouldget and I'd put in the ground it
would grow.
That just got me moreinterested.
It got me more interested thatwe times when I would just take
a tomato, I would throw theseeds and I would see the plants
(01:33):
grow.
But because I lived in anapartment back in the day people
didn't have that big gardensand apartments they're a thing
now but back then I would growthe seedlings and I'd give it to
my friend who had a garden andI would say grow this, and they
would grow it.
So I always knew I had greenfingers.
It was something that I alwayswanted to do.
(01:55):
I was going to have my owngarden and it's once I moved
over to this country and webought our first house.
While buying the house, I waslooking for the basic things you
want in the house a nice bigkitchen and when I saw the
backyard, I thought, oh, thisbackyard looks huge.
This is a plus point.
I didn't know how much thegarden would evolve.
It was not in my plan that itwould evolve so much over the
(02:18):
last 15 years, but it's justdone that and I love it.
It's my space.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Oh beautiful, that sounds very special.
So when you say your garden hasevolved, could you talk to us a
little bit about how it startedout and what it looks like
today?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yes, absolutely.
Oh, wow.
Going back, going back, memorylane of flash flashbacks.
When we bought the house, wehad nothing in the garden.
It was a blank canvas.
There was weeds that were kneehigh.
That was the main patch, and onthe sides of the garden we had
these succulents, calanchoi,which was growing, along with a
(02:56):
lot of pebbles.
On another side we had rosebushes that were growing.
And the one advice that I gotbecause you know how sometimes
you want to go and startgardening and you think, oh, yep
, I'm going to buy everythingand put it in and it's all going
to grow.
It doesn't always work that waybecause it's expensive, let's
be honest.
It's expensive, it is timeconsuming and it's a commitment.
(03:18):
The best advice that I got backthen was divide your garden
into different parts and work oneach one, each section, and the
first thing I did was I startedwith fruit trees.
I love fruits, so that's thefirst thing I started.
We started off with five fruittrees, and then I'll tell you I
(03:40):
wasn't working back then.
So gardening is a bit pricey,so for me, I had to medically
sit down and say all right, whatdo I want?
Have this little garden budgetthe day I got my first job in
the next two months.
I looked at my husband and Isaid all right, I want to do the
garden.
Can you do this?
What if I lose my job?
Let's do the garden now.
(04:01):
Let's get it done.
We took 10 days off and wetransformed the garden straight
away.
We already had the fruit reason.
We had a few plants on the side, we put a lawn in, we put two
veggie beds, two massive veggiebeds and we thought, yep, this
looks fantastic.
For two people, this is enough.
That was the initial stage.
(04:22):
What my husband did not know andI'll tell you he's a very
patient man it was over the lastfew years after, and I was
scheming different ideas in myhead.
No, I love it.
I was looking at the garden, Iwas looking at the sides and I'm
thinking you know what?
We have all of this space.
I really want to put it to use.
The first thing I did thenafter that was the side where we
(04:42):
had a pagola.
I started putting fruit treesin there.
I put a pear tree, I put a,I've got a goba tree in there
and I've got a pomegranate tree,because I wanted to have that
nice place.
You know where you're sittingin the pagola and you have the
fruit trees laid in with fruit,you can go and pluck out a fruit
and eat.
That was the vision in my head.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, that sounds ideal.
It does.
It is magic.
I love it, it is.
It is a form of magic.
It's like what you were sayingearlier Watching your aunties
grow things from seed and thendevelop into the flower and
fruit.
It really does feel like a formof magic sometimes, doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
It does it does.
The last side that wetransformed, I would say during
COVID time, was what we call asRaspberry lane, which is about a
20 meter strip that we have atthe side of the house.
Every house has that 20 meterstrip where you either just
(05:42):
throw mulch or you'll put someyakas in there.
But I saw potential becausewhat I saw was the daylight you
get.
That part of the garden getsjust a little bit of sunlight.
Good enough for about five, sixhours.
I thought you know what?
What's the best that can growhere?
Raspberry's.
Let's put every colored berrythat I can think of in here and
(06:04):
see what happens.
It's been a massive berry patch.
We formally call it Raspberrylane because it has every color
berry that we have growing in it.
I have more berries than I caneat.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Oh, wonderful.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
I have more berries than I can eat, I end up giving
it to friends, I end up makingmuffins to take to work berry
muffins to take to work and Iend up freezing them and using
them throughout the year.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Oh lovely, and I'm sure your colleagues were
pleased with that.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Oh, they have high expectations, I'll tell you that
.
But yeah, I do like sharingstuff, so I don't mind doing it.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Beautiful.
So cooking is also a part ofyour gardening journey, is that
right?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I love to eat, so definitely cooking is part of my
journey.
Cooking, preserving food.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Oh lovely.
There's nothing quite like thetaste of your homegrown produce,
is there?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And I'll tell you, I grew aradio the last couple of years
for that, the last bit that wehad was the lawn.
And I managed to convince myhusband, saying you know what?
We don't have kids.
Why do we have a lawn?
Why do we have a lawn?
I do not want to have a lawn.
I'm I kind of I don't want togive out my age, but I'm at that
age where you think, like youknow, if you don't do this now,
(07:16):
when are you going to do it?
And that's when he said, ok, Imanaged to convince him to get
rid of the lawn.
We got rid of the lawn, we gotthe lawn, which is such a big
deal, and we managed to put inabout seven more beds.
So in total, I now have 15garden beds.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Oh, my goodness, I love it.
So what?
What kind of land are youworking with their Penelope?
Is it quite a large block?
Speaker 2 (07:45):
It's a regular suburban block.
I would say that the gardenitself would be around maybe 200
meters.
Oh, ok, 200 square feet, 200square feet somewhere around
there.
Yeah, that's excellent.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
So, in addition to your berries and the fruit trees
are you growing?
Vegetables or.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Oh, yes, absolutely I love growing vegetables.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Lovely.
So what kind of things do youcurrently have in your garden?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
At the moment being somehow we've got everything.
Some of that's growing.
I love growing.
I love growing things that youdon't get in the market.
Yes, that's not like tomatoes.
Different colored tomatoes,different flavors, different
sizes that whole rainbow on theplate is something that I like
looking at.
So different colored tomatoes.
We've grown cucumbers.
I have to tell you they are myarch enemy.
(08:33):
They give me trouble year onyear, but this year they're
being good.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
What kind of challenges do you face with the
cucumbers?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I.
My biggest challenge withcucumbers is once I grow them
from a seedling and I put themin the ground.
Either they are stunted or theygrow, they don't pollinate and
they die off, and I've alwayswondered why was that the cause?
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Oh, ok.
So sometimes a lack ofpollination can be caused by a
reduced number of bees andpollinators in the area, so that
could be occurring.
Have you ever hand pollinatedyour plants?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I do.
I find cucumbers a bit dicey,but I have learned a little
secret to it.
Oh, what's your secret?
I can tell you, please, whatI've done this year.
I'll tell you.
I realized that with the soilthat we had in one of our garden
beds it is the word that'scalled it's called hydrophobic.
Hydrophobic means when you putwater on the soil, it runs off.
(09:31):
The soil doesn't absorb it.
So that was one of the mainproblems, and what I've learned
is you've got to fix that beforeyou can even put your plants in
.
So what we did this year was weused a whole lot of homemade
compost Lovely, we used manualand we used coil and we mixed it
up really well and that helpedwith the soil.
(09:51):
That also helped with theplants because they were able.
I noticed that they were ableto grow much better this year
and we grew a lot of floweringplants around, so that
definitely helped withpollination.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Oh, fantastic, wonderful, yeah, so a bit of
composting and ensuring that theflowers attracting those
pollinators are present.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
That's correct and the soil is everything.
It's something that I guess wedon't generally pay attention to
.
We take it for granted, butreally your soil is everything.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
That's very true.
Lots of people do overlook thesoil.
We sometimes tend to think, ohwell, there's some dirt we can
plant in it.
But it's not always that simple, is it?
Speaker 2 (10:34):
That is correct.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Yeah, there's quite a lot to ensuring that the
nutrient levels in your soil arecorrect, and particularly for
what you're trying to grow, too.
Different things requiredifferent levels.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Absolutely.
And worms?
You have to see worms in yoursoil.
You know that soil is good whenyou see those worms wriggling
out.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yes, lovely.
You mentioned earlier, penelope, moving to the country and to
this country and the differencesin gardening there.
Are you happy to share a littlebit more about that, where
you've come from and what thedifferences are?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yes, absolutely so.
Now, if I tell you my heritage,I'm Indian.
Yes, I was born and brought upoverseas, in the Gulf and the
place that I'm used to overthere, I've always lived in an
apartment, so I had more of anindoor garden.
I wasn't able to really growfruits and veg back home because
(11:35):
, again, it was difficult, therewas lack of knowledge.
There wasn't much knowledge.
The time when I started toexpand my garden collection in
India was when I used to go tomy mother-in-law's house my
third mother-in-law's house,what she said, my mother-in-law
because while I had to pass thehouse, there were about six
nurseries in a line.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Oh, lovely.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
And I used to go meet her and after that I spent the
rest of the next few hours justgoing through the nurseries
learning about plants, trying tounderstand the structure of the
soil, everything else.
I'm originally from Bombay, sofor me I used to tropical plants
.
I'm used to tropical plants,tropical fruits.
(12:17):
The flavor is so sweet I'lltell you.
In India, if you buy a papaya,it is like sugar.
It's like eating sugar, evenmango Goavers everything Mangoes
are, and you know what.
There are so many differenttypes of mangoes in India.
It's insane.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Oh wow, where did you have?
Did you have a favorite?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
The.
There's one called as theAlfonso mango.
Okay, it is the sweetest youcan.
When you, when you smell thetop of the mango, it should
smell like sugar.
Oh yeah, that's how you knowit'll be sweet.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Lovely.
So you mentioned you learnedabout soil and things like that
early on in the piece, so youreally started from the ground
up, so to speak.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I did, I did, and you know what.
What I realized as well is thatyou have to.
You have to learn by looking atyour plants, because I feel
like plants actually talk to you.
They tell you when they needsomething Like my lemon tree is
very vocal.
She'll tell me if she needsiron, if she needs magnesium.
She'll throw a tantrum and dropleaves if it's too hot, because
(13:20):
she wants water, and then I'mlike okay, I get you.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
What are some of those cues in terms of a plant
lacking magnesium and thingslike that?
What would she say to you?
How would you communicate thatwith you?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, she would show me yellowing between the veins.
It could be either yellowingbetween the veins or yellowing
on the outside of the leeway.
You can see that there's moregreen between the veins but a
slight hint of yellow.
So, not to confuse myself, Igive them both, I give them
happy.
I'm like here is your magnesium, here is some iron and you know
(13:56):
what?
It's not just lemon trees, butit's any tree, it's any tree.
I find that a plant performsmuch better when you give them
magnesium, especially at theseedling stage.
That's what I do with my tomatoseedlings.
Like you, can grow them in atiny pot in that seedling pot
only for some time, but there'sonly so much nutrients that
little pot will carry.
(14:17):
So you have to keep topping itup.
You have to keep looking at theleaves, looking for signs,
seeing if they are fungaldiseases, and treat it
accordingly.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Very true indeed.
So what do you apply toincrease the magnesium levels?
Speaker 2 (14:33):
You can buy magnesium from the store, like they call
this, epsom salts.
You get them at bunnings.
Yeah, it's just a plain packet.
They're little white salts.
You can just buy them and applythem If you wanted to work
quicker.
You get it in a liquid form aswell, where you can just pour in
.
The plant can absorb thenutrients directly.
(14:54):
But I just go the powder where,just before the sprinkler, some
powder every quarter keepseveryone happy.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Yes, yes, lovely, thank you.
And when you mentioned beforethe tomato plants, while we're
on nifty tricks, have you everheard of burying a banana peel
at the base of the tomato plant?
Speaker 2 (15:14):
I've heard that.
I've heard about the banana.
I've heard about the egg.
Oh, the egg.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
I haven't heard that one.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
There is the egg, there's fish heads as well the
banana I dig into the soil.
So what I do is one thing I dois I love going lettuce and
salads, and sometimes you findall of these things just tend to
go to seed with a change inweather, that's all.
It requires One hot day andit's like, oh no, I'm done for
the day.
So these things that go to seed, I have the habit of just it's
(15:44):
called the chop and drop method,where you just chop them down
and you turn them over in thesoil and what that does is that
breaks down.
And while I do that, I try tofeed extra stuff that we have
from the kitchen all yourkitchen scraps, like your
watermelon, watermelon rind,your banana leaves, your apple
core, anything I find around thehouse.
I'm like, yep, this can go intothe, into the soil.
(16:07):
I will just, I will just startto turn it over into the soil.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
And you find that quite effective.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
I do find it effective because again you have
the microbes in the soil thatbreak it down and then you get
that it all becomes compost.
You have nice soft soil becauseof the microbes, the earthworms
.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Beautiful, lovely.
So what has been one of yourbiggest challenges in the garden
, penelope?
Perhaps a failure that youwould be happy to talk about,
that others can learn from?
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Growing chilies.
I have to say growing chilies.
I love chilies, being Indianchilies are my thing.
So when I was not able to growchilies, I was worried.
I was like this is not right.
This should happenautomatically.
Why is it this happening?
But there are tricks to it.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
There are some tricks .
The soil temperature is themost common hurdle that I found
with the chilies.
Yeah, they need a nice hottemperature in the soil to
germinate, which can stump somegardeners.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
That is correct.
And also with that I've learnedthat in Melbourne you've got to
start early.
Yes, you have to start early.
You cannot wait for, likeOctober to put your seeds in.
You have to start like I'lltell you.
I personally start in at theend of June, beginning July.
I start putting my seeds inpotting mix, put it on a heat
(17:32):
mat till it germinate it juststarts to pop out and then move
it into individual little potsand underneath a grow light.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
So you have found a way to overcome that challenge
with the chilies, then Correct,wonderful, wonderful, and I'm
sure they don't grow to waste inthe kitchen either, as you say.
You love to eat them.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
I have to tell you I don't buy chilies anymore.
I just grow them and I freezethem.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Oh, wonderful.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah, I like preserving food.
I enjoy preserving food.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Yeah, I think it's very important skill to learn
too.
Do you have a favourite method,penelope?
Speaker 2 (18:13):
If I'm doing tomatoes it would have to be the canning
method wherein you puree yoursorry, you make a puree off your
tomatoes so you boil them tillthey become really thick.
I tend to blend them after that.
Then, while the puree is hot,you put them in jars.
(18:33):
Your jars also have to be hot.
They'd have to go into an ovenat 100 degrees so that they are
warm.
So they always say your liquidor whatever you're putting into
the jar needs to be warm.
So warm liquid, warm jar pourin a jar.
Then I would seal it.
I would just put the cap on andclose and leave it on the table
(18:55):
and it pops automatically.
Some people use somethingcalled as the Fowler method,
where they put the jars inboiling water.
I used to do that but I don'tdo that anymore because I find
that both methods actually work.
But one thing I do do is I adda teaspoon of citric acid to my
tomato puree because I know thatthat'll extend the shelf life.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Oh, very clever.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, absolutely, and anything I jar, I add a
teaspoon of citric acid.
That's one thing that my mom'sfriend had taught me a long,
long time ago.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Oh lovely.
It's the beauty of sharedwisdom, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Speaking of the beauty of shared wisdom, is
there any particular plant orflower that takes you back to a
special moment in your life?
That could be a moment in thegarden with a loved one, or just
something that you learned thatyou hold very dear.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I would have to say.
The one thing that I love a lotis and I recently started to
like them more as flowersgrowing flowers.
It's something that I wasn'tinto a long time ago and back in
the day.
When you buy flowers, flowersare expensive.
Let's be honest.
You can't always buy flowersevery week.
(20:13):
My mom loves gladiolize.
She loves, loves, gladiolize.
We had every vase in the househad gladiolize.
Plastic, mind you, plastic, notreal plastic ones.
And it was typical back in theold days that you'd put plastic
over everything.
So all her plastic gladiolizehad plastic and she would always
(20:36):
tell me I really like theseflowers, I really like these
flowers.
So I started growing gladiolizebecause she likes gladiolize
and I've taken a liking to thembecause it reminds me of her.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Oh, I love that.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yeah, and while she's in the funny part now, while
she's no more with me.
She passed away two years ago.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
I'm sorry to hear that.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yeah, it's all right.
I still grew gladiolize becauseof her.
What a beautiful tribute.
Yeah, and they.
You know what they flower inher birth month.
Every year they all flower inJanuary.
My mom was born in Jan.
They flower during that time,so it's even nicer, it's special
to me.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Lovely, that is very special.
Thank you for sharing thatstory with us, Penelope.
That's lovely.
So the gladiolize would they beyour favorite plant to grow?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
They are because of my mom.
They're.
I wouldn't say they're myfavorite, they're probably my
second favorite.
My favorite plant would be mymandarin tree.
To be honest, I love mymandarin tree to death.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Oh lovely.
Is it a dwarf variety or?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
He is a dwarf, he's an imperial mandarin tree, oh
yum.
He was a little problematicchild when I bought him.
Oh yeah, he was a littleproblematic child and I'll give
you some wisdom about citrustrees, which is what I learned
as well.
Yeah, with citrus trees, mostpeople, when you buy the tree
(21:59):
from the shop, if they are veryadvanced, you will get the fruit
.
You might get a few fruit, butwith citrus trees it takes three
years for the roots to developunder the soil and only once the
base is developed then the topwill take off.
Okay, it took me five yearswith this plant.
I almost gave up because, withhim as well, when we bought him
(22:22):
from the store I didn't realizethat he had there was those leaf
miners.
He had leaf miners on him.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Oh, yes, yep, oh, they can be quite the hassle.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
They are a bit of a pain.
Yes, we killed a leaf miner, weput him in a spot and he was
not happy because, again, citrusdon't like wet feet.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yeah, they don't like wet feet.
He wasn't happy there, movedhim somewhere else, lost all his
leaves, sat there for two yearsand one day I just thought you
know what this plant is useless,let's chuck him out, as
everyone says.
I went to pull them out but hedidn't come out.
I tried to pull him, pull himand I fell down on the ground
pulling him, and then I said,all right.
I was like if you want to live,live.
(23:06):
If you want to die, it's up toyou.
And I walked away and in twomonths he took off.
He just took off.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
He just needed some encouragement.
Perhaps.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
That's it, that's it.
And now we get.
I'll tell you, we get at leastabout three to 400 mandrons
every second year.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Oh, that's fantastic.
That's wonderful.
And how did you treat the leafminer?
Speaker 2 (23:32):
I do not use sprays.
All I do is I flip the leaf atthe back and I use my fingernail
to actually crush the leafminer.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Oh, okay, and that's quite effective.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
It is effective because they die instantly.
It's quicker than putting aspray and waiting.
I just use my finger and justcrush them off.
I don't have that issue anymorebecause the tree is very
healthy.
So I've freed the tree withmagnesium.
I give them iron, I do.
I do six monthly feeds as wellof of manual oh, okay, Last worm
(24:06):
compost.
So I try and keep them ashealthy as I can.
I don't get these issues.
They do come, but not often.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Yes, oh, that's good.
It sounds like you take a lotof preventative measures in the
garden as well.
Yes, yes, as they say,prevention is better than cure.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
It's very true.
So what about?
We've touched on somechallenges.
What about some of yourtriumphs, or your greatest
successes in the garden?
Speaker 2 (24:37):
That's a good question, jamma.
That's an absolutely goodquestion.
My recent triumph would be andI've not yet put on Instagram,
but would have to be my peartree.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Oh, or pears are delicious yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
We bought this little .
I don't think she's a, I thinkshe's a pixie pear tree, one of
those do-offy ones that growsonly up to two meters high.
Ah yes, we bought her about 11or 12 years ago and we put her
in the ground.
We would feed her everythingpossible every year and we never
got fruit.
(25:11):
Oh, and we were like what'shappening?
And I thought, okay, at leastit's got green leaves, it looks
nice, that should be fine.
And then, finally, we were myhusband's like, but why aren't
we getting any fruit?
So we so we named her the freeloader.
Oh, so yeah, we've likecertainly given up on the tree,
thinking, yep, nothing's goingto happen, nothing's going to
(25:32):
happen.
So we spotted pears on the tree.
They're so lovely.
So, and it's been like I can'tbelieve it Like look, after 12
years, you suddenly see bears.
12 years, 12 years for bears.
Wow, I think about seven oreight bears that are on the tree
.
I've been like guarding thetree, like don't ask, but like
(25:55):
no critter, no wind, no lighting, nothing's going to touch these
bears.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
That's understandable .
I think 12 years is a very longtime to wait.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
You're a patient, lady Penelope, oh Wonderful.
So when it comes to yourvegetable beds that you
mentioned, that you now have 15beds, what are they made up of
primarily?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
So I use the corrugated iron beds.
Ah, yes, yeah, I like thembecause I feel like they're
sturdy, they're hearty, they'regood, they've lasted me a long
time.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
They also add a really nice rustic feel to the
garden too, don't they?
Speaker 2 (26:34):
They do.
They certainly do, but you haveto be careful with your layout
when you put those beds.
I feel like the normal waywhere people put one behind the
other.
And my dad called us out whenhe visited me last year.
He looked at the beds inbetween and one said that we had
.
In between were four Sort of.
There was one on the left, oneon the right and one at the back
, one in the front.
(26:54):
And he looked at it and he saidwhat are those coffins doing
there?
And I'm like dad, those aregarden beds, they're not coffins
.
He's like they look likecoffins and that's why I thought
, yeah, we should have thoughtof a nice way of designing that.
But it's all right.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
The beauty of hindsight, though, so.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yes, but they're very sturdy.
They're good beds.
I'll tell you, they last long.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Oh, good, good.
And what are you growing inthose?
Speaker 2 (27:23):
So, with some of our vegetables at the moment, we've
got beans.
We've got two different typesof beans.
We've got the yellow wax beans,We've got the purple climbing
beans, the scarlet beans.
We've got heaps of chilies andcapsicums.
Oh lovely, I'm just trying tocalculate.
We've got three beds of chiliesand capsicums.
(27:45):
I like dividing my garden intosections, so at the moment we
have got about I'm just tryingto think we've got about three
different beds of tomatoes andbecause they're in a certain
section, we call that tomatotown.
Oh, ok, suitable name Suitablename Because when you enter
(28:09):
there there is tomato town.
Yeah, and on the corner thereis there's chili corner, because
there's just chilies andcapsicums going around the
corner.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
I like it.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Yeah, there's chili and capsicum corner.
We have got.
We had sunflowers.
I love sunflowers.
They're a bit crazy, especiallywhen the seeds start to scatter
everywhere.
They just pop up, which is sobeautiful.
You see little yellow heads allaround the place.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
It is lovely, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Absolutely.
We have onions in another bed.
We have one more bed which isfull of potatoes, full, full of
potatoes, love potatoes.
We have zucchinis, zucchinisquash.
We have dahlias.
We have carrots growingsomewhere else.
There's always spring onions inthe garden because you know
(28:56):
fried rice is the best thing toeat, so there has to be spring
onions, oh yum, delicious.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Yes, I have to agree with that.
Fried rice and potatoes.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Fried rice and potatoes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Yes, I'm a big, big fan of potatoes myself too.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Oh, really Yucky.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Oh, yes, yeah, and it is a vegetable, so it's OK.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Absolutely, absolutely.
It's a good cup.
That's gone at a good cup,that's right.
Yeah, herbs.
Herbs are everywhere around thegarden.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Oh beautiful.
What herbs are you growing?
Speaker 2 (29:30):
We have the.
We have perpetual basil,because regular basil dies with
me, so perpetual basil is safe.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Yes, yeah, basil is one of my favorite herbs too, oh
.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
I said OK, I love it.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
I love drying it Very versatile.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Yeah, so you do dry your herbs and do you then grind
them and use them as theseasoning, or how do you store
them to keep?
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I do not always grind them, so I grind a portion of
them.
So I have I'll tell you what Ido.
I grind so with all the herbs Igrow.
So I have parsley, I haveVietnamese mint, I have basil,
we have regular mint, we havebay leaves as well, plus we have
lemon myrtle.
A part of these are dehydrated,our dehydrated, so I dehydrate
(30:22):
them and I grind them to apowder, and the rest I keep
fresh.
The ones which are ground, Ilike to add in marinades.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Oh, yes, you make the marinades yourself and add in
your herbs.
Yes, beautiful.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
That is correct.
Marinades, pizza sauces,curries in patties, in burgers,
salad dressings.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Oh, that sounds mouth-watering.
I'll look forward to a dinnerinvite.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Oh, absolutely.
Come home anytime.
We're never short of food inthis house.
Come home anytime.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Isn't that wonderful knowing that you can rely on
yourself as well for your foods,your vegetables and your herbs
and fruits, and it's such a goodfeeling, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
It's the best feeling .
I'll tell you, that's when Ifelt grateful during COVID time,
especially when there was thatscare that everyone was going
didn't want to go out of thehouse.
There were.
I remember the ceilings andbunnings were all over seeds.
People had bought seeds, yes,and I had some packets of
expired seeds which I thought,oh, let's give this a try and
(31:29):
things grow, properly grow, somany things grow and I was like,
oh, it's good.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
So is there anything you would like to see more of in
the gardening realm?
Do you think more people shouldbe getting their hands dirty
and learning about growing theirown foods?
Speaker 2 (31:45):
I think with today's generation, I think the
youngsters need to learn moreabout where their food comes
from and have a betterappreciation towards their food.
To be honest, Like a lot ofthem do not know that to grow a
single tomato takes you sixmonths.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Yes, that's true.
Understanding where our foodcomes from does provide a whole
new appreciation for it.
Yep.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I was going to say, even if people, if you can't
grow fruit, like I have, a lotof friends say, or I kill plants
, I can't grow plants, I killplants.
Okay, grow flowers, not foryourself, but grow them for the
bees.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Yes, indeed, yes, a lot of people too, it's they
don't realise without them, wehave no food.
It's not just the flowers, it'sthe food that they pollinate.
They are vital and they are introuble.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Absolutely absolutely .
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Yeah, do you have a favourite flower to grow for the
bees?
Speaker 2 (32:38):
At the moment.
The bees love dahlias.
They're enjoying dahlias.
I like calendulas.
I find calendulas the mostreliable flower because they can
grow throughout the year.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Yes, yes, and colourful too.
They add a nice pop of colourto a garden, don't they?
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Absolutely, it's a medicinal plant as well.
Yes, yeah, it is one of thebest flowers and it's self seed,
so you don't have to doanything, it just grows by
itself.
Oh, and that's a bonus?
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Absolutely.
I actually had some nasturtiumself seed and I know they can be
quite difficult to germinatenasturtiums.
So anytime I see some poppingup in the garden that I didn't
plant, I'm very grateful and Imake sure I let it know.
That too, I say a little thankyou.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Oh, that's cute.
They are a really good flower.
They do their own thing.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
They do, yes, and the bees love them as well.
And again, also a medicinaledible plant.
The nasturtium is a bit peppery.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Yes, absolutely.
It's such a good plant that youcan use for it's a
multi-purpose plant, isn't it?
The leaves, the seeds, theflowers.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Indeed, yeah, and they make quite pretty
decorations too in presenting ameal cakes or biscuits, things
like that.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Yeah, it can look quite beautiful, that is correct
.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Yeah, I do really appreciate plants that have that
multi-use that you mentioned.
I find that very enriching forthe garden.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Yes, that is correct.
Always looking for benefits,always looking for benefits.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Yes, yeah, A bit of companion planting too, Both the
calendula that you mentionedand nasturtiums.
They're fantastic companionplants too for certain types.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Yeah, you can fill an empty space also in the garden.
If you've got an empty space,they can fill up that little
empty space, so it doesn't lookbad.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
Yes, that's true.
Yeah, and it's quite nice too,and they can be rambling.
The nasturtiums can be quitesprawling and pretty yeah, Now
that's a very good point.
There are some.
I have some favourite spacefillers in my garden.
Do you have any in particularthat are your go-tos?
Speaker 2 (34:46):
I at the moment want to.
This is my plan to get a lot ofpansies and violas and put them
in.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Oh lovely, yes, very pretty.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Yeah, because it will self-seed as well.
The garden will get more colour.
That's on my wish list at themoment because we've just been
From the time.
We've redone the whole garden,we've just been trying to just
manage it at the moment and Ikeep thinking we do need to get
some more colour in the garden.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Yes, lovely.
So may I ask you, penelope,what do you personally get out
of gardening?
Second to the produce, ofcourse, what does it do for you?
What do you love most about it?
Speaker 2 (35:28):
It gives me happy.
It just gives me happy,beautiful.
It's like.
It's that mental happiness.
It's exercise, which is anotherthing, that's true, yes, and it
keeps your brain going.
It's one of the things myfriend was telling me about a
while ago.
She said that you need to havea hobby that keeps you busy,
(35:51):
that keeps your brain busy,because if you have your brain
busy which is again all thisplanning, thinking I need to
pick this, pick that you haveyour body working.
It's the best thing.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
It really does take a lot of boxes, doesn't it Like
the spiritual, mental, physical.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Yes, absolutely, that's the word I was going for.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Yes, it is.
It's quite wonderful, and oneof the best things I find is
that there's always more tolearn.
We won't ever stop learning inthe garden, and that's, I think,
quite powerful.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
Oh, absolutely there's.
You can write as you can readit, as many books as you want,
but you'll still keep learning.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
Indeed indeed.
Is there anything in particularthat you've learned on your
journey that you would havenever expected to learn?
Speaker 2 (36:38):
With gardening, you require patience, you just
require patience, and you can'tgive up, because I mean, why
would you give up?
You can't give up.
I've tried to give up and Ithought you know what?
This is not me.
I need to do this.
The chili plants that died.
I was like no man.
How can you die on me?
We need to try this again.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Yeah, that's it, if at first you don't succeed.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Yeah, just do it, just try it again.
Just do it and expand.
I think every gardener who youspeak to is always looking for a
way to sneak in new plants andexpand, grow something different
, add more fruit.
Can't sit quietly with twoplants and think, yep, that's it
, I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
No, no, it's quite addictive.
It is addictive, but it's agood addiction in the garden.
So what about future plans?
Speaking of not being able tosit still, is there anything
that you'd like to try with yourgarden in the future, penelope?
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Yes, I do want to try .
It's on my list.
It's one of my things to do inwinter is basically plant a
couple more fruit trees.
I have my mind on a persimmon,because I love persimmon it is
such a beautiful fruit and acherry tree.
I've got a cherry tree which Ialmost killed twice over the
(37:52):
last two weeks because of theheat span.
Oh no, but that is the goal totry and grow both of those fruit
trees.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Lovely, so is your plan to have fruits available
each season.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
The funny part is it actually works out that way.
I'll tell you how it works withme.
So the raspberries and theberries and this is one thing
I've.
It took me time to learnbecause you don't know these
things you go into a shop andyou just buy a plant, but every
fruit has got three seasons.
They have the early season, themid season and late season
(38:30):
varieties.
I did not think about that whenbuying fruit trees With my
garden.
Luckily it works out this waythat from the end of November
till almost the end of mid ofDecember we get a lot of
raspberries, the raspberries,blackberries, yellow berries.
(38:50):
They continue.
The whole berry seasoncontinues till December.
From Feb starts the nectarines.
The nectarine season starts inmy garden from Feb, going till
about mid-March.
That's when.
That's when, after that, thefig season starts.
Fig season starts in my garden.
After the fig season starts theapples.
(39:12):
So I've got two different typesof apples.
I've got Pink Lady and I've gotthe Granny Smith.
That continues from about April, may and goes on till June.
I'm going to say it goes on.
And most people wonder why doesit go on till June?
Because I picked the fruit whenthey are the ripest, when they
are red when they are thesweetest, because that's when
(39:34):
you'll get the flavor.
Then you can store your applesfor at least about five, six
months.
That's what I do in the coolestroom of the house, yeah, once
the apples are over.
Well, now we're getting pears.
This year we have thepomegranates as well.
Pomegranates work after that,oh delicious.
Then starts the lemon and themandarin.
So we sort of have a patterngoing on here for six months
(39:57):
where we just have fruit fromthe garden.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
That's wonderful.
I love that.
That was an accidental reward,was it?
Speaker 2 (40:04):
That was an accidental reward.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Oh, I'm sorry, you have to love those, you have to
love them.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
That's one of the benefits also of taking the time
to observe your garden, whichis it's also one of the
principles of permaculture.
Is observation To watch yourgarden for an entire year, so
all of the season cycles passthrough, and that gives you a
much better connection to yourgarden, a deeper understanding
(40:32):
of what's appearing, when andwhat may need to be repositioned
or is thriving in particularareas too.
So it sounds like the fruittrees in your garden are very
happy.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
They better be.
They are happy, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Oh, I hope you're biting into some delicious pears
in no time, I'm sure you will.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Absolutely Yep, yep, looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
So is there anything, penelope, that you were hoping
I would ask you, and I haven't?
Speaker 2 (41:06):
Let me think about this One thing I would like.
I'll tell you one thing that Iwould like people to do.
And I see a lot of peoplemostly like, once they get a lot
of produce especially newgardeners they're most happy
about yeah, I've got so muchproduce, what do I do with it?
And people ask me as well.
When they see my post, they'relike oh, you've got so much of
food, what do you do with it?
Because there's only two of you.
But I think that there is anart in preservation and people
(41:29):
should really learn to preservefood more than anything else.
I love preserving food.
I love preserving food.
Now, in the next two weekends,I will take out the potatoes
from the, from the veggie patch,and I'll put them in cardboard
boxes and I know that thosepotatoes will serve me for at
least the next five months fiveto six months.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Oh, wonderful.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Wonderful.
So, yeah, I feel like the artof preservation is massive and I
think it's something thatpeople need to learn.
Like even apples we keep applesin the coldest room in the
house for a good six, sevenmonths and we just eat them
whenever people aren't reallyaware of these things.
Like even lemons this is thefirst year I learned to make
(42:11):
lemon silo and I'm over the moon.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
Oh, yeah, yes.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Yeah, Out of preserving these things.
You get great to share stuffwith family and friends, but
learn to preserve these thingsfor yourself for the long run,
because you never know the waythe world is going when you
actually have to stop and becomesustainable.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
That is very true, very true.
And, as you said, storing theapples for six months.
I think lots of people don'trealise the apples that they'll
pick from the supermarketshelves are often already that
old, so they think you know.
Some people may be hearing thisand saying you know they're not
going to be able to storeapples for six months, but they
(42:53):
do.
They last quite a long time inthe right conditions, don't they
?
Speaker 2 (42:57):
They do.
We have pumpkins that have saton the table for a year.
They just sit on the table.
That's it.
Yeah, lovely.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
They're happy or lucky.
Yeah, they're good storeers.
Pumpkins Do you have aparticular variety of pumpkin?
You find stores best?
Speaker 2 (43:13):
I would say the Cinderella pumpkin.
I love the Cinderella pumpkin.
It's my favourite.
I'm not a fan of eatingpumpkins, I just like growing
them because they're so pretty.
When I get over my, when I lookat them and I get over my OK,
I'm done looking at them.
I will cut them, divide themand give them to friends, or we
freeze part of them.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
Oh, yes, that's a good idea too.
Yeah, so would that be youradvice to anybody starting their
gardening journey now, penelope, would you say that you'd
advise them to learn the art ofpreservation?
Speaker 2 (43:46):
I would.
I would ask them, if you'rejust starting their garden, to
have patience.
Have patience, do not give up.
It's OK if you kill a plant.
I've killed plants.
I've killed so many plants, butyou know what.
That's why they have so manyseeds, so you can grow them
again.
That's right.
Yes indeed.
So keep trying, keep trying andlearn to preserve your food.
(44:07):
Preservation is a beautifulskill which, if I'm not mistaken
, everyone's grandparents,great-grandparents all did.
Back in the day when we didn'thave fridges, everyone did
preservation.
So it's not an old skill, it'snot a new skill.
Sorry, it's an old skill, butit's a great skill to have.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
And very important too, like you say, food security
as well.
It's our best to know, correctIndeed.
So before we sign off, Penelope, could you please share with us
how our listeners can find outa bit more about you and your
garden?
Where can they find you?
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
So I have an Instagram account.
It's called as Queen Penelope'sPatch and they can follow me
there.
If they have any questions thatrequire any gardening help,
just shoot me and shoot me amessage, and I'm always happy to
take a look.
I'll probably ask you for aphotograph if you tell me my
plant is a disease.
So just send me a photograph orlook at it.
I'll give you my advice, tellyou what I think.
(45:06):
I will cheer you when you haveyour wins in the garden.
If any of you have yourfailures, I will stand by you
and say you know what that plantwas?
A stupid plant.
Anyway, let's do another one.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Wonderful, wonderful.
So some gardening support also.
And for anyone who has not yetseen Penelope's Instagram page
at Queen Penelope's Patch, Ithink you should definitely jump
on and have a look at theamazing thing she's growing, but
the photographs are absolutelydivine.
Penelope, I think you'd havesome luck trying your hand at
(45:37):
some professional photographytoo.
I've thought about it.
Speaker 2 (45:41):
I can't say I haven't thought about it.
I have thought about it.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Vibrant, the colors are rich.
They're truly wonderful.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
The produce speaks for itself.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Perfect, perfect Well , thank you so much for your
time today, penelope.
You've been a real wealth ofknowledge and I've absolutely
loved chatting with you.
I truly appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (46:03):
Thank you so much, Emma.
You are awesome and I wish youthe best.
Have fun in your garden.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
Oh, thank you and likewise Thanks for listening.
You're listening to how I Grow with the Seed
Collection.
My name is Gemma and today I'llbe speaking with Penelope from
Queen Penelope's patch onInstagram.
We'll be delving intoPenelope's organic backyard
journey with her and the lessonsshe's learned along the way.
Thank you so much for beingwith us today, penelope.
(00:23):
Hey, gemma, how are you?
I'm well, thank you?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
how are you?
I am blushing like the tomatoesthat are growing in the garden.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Oh, I love it.
I love it.
So excited to be speaking withyou today.
I can't wait to learn moreabout how you grow and, in fact,
after seeing photographs ofyour produce, I actually plan on
taking some notes.
So I guess I'd like to start byasking what inspired you to
garden and why is it importantto you?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
So I've always loved gardening, from the time I was a
child, I would say.
These aunties of mine growlittle flowering plants and
stuff in pots and I like that.
And what intrigued me more thananything else was to be able to
see life grow out of a tinyseed and see it blossom and grow
and just every step of it, likeright from a flower it would
(01:13):
grow into a fruit.
The whole process kind of gotme intrigued and what I learned
from a young age was that Iactually have green fingers,
because every seed that I wouldget and I'd put in the ground it
would grow.
That just got me moreinterested.
It got me more interested thatwe times when I would just take
a tomato, I would throw theseeds and I would see the plants
(01:33):
grow.
But because I lived in anapartment back in the day people
didn't have that big gardensand apartments they're a thing
now but back then I would growthe seedlings and I'd give it to
my friend who had a garden andI would say grow this, and they
would grow it.
So I always knew I had greenfingers.
It was something that I alwayswanted to do.
(01:55):
I was going to have my owngarden and it's once I moved
over to this country and webought our first house.
While buying the house, I waslooking for the basic things you
want in the house a nice bigkitchen and when I saw the
backyard, I thought, oh, thisbackyard looks huge.
This is a plus point.
I didn't know how much thegarden would evolve.
It was not in my plan that itwould evolve so much over the
(02:18):
last 15 years, but it's justdone that and I love it.
It's my space.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Oh beautiful, that sounds very special.
So when you say your garden hasevolved, could you talk to us a
little bit about how it startedout and what it looks like
today?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yes, absolutely.
Oh, wow.
Going back, going back, memorylane of flash flashbacks.
When we bought the house, wehad nothing in the garden.
It was a blank canvas.
There was weeds that were kneehigh.
That was the main patch, and onthe sides of the garden we had
these succulents, calanchoi,which was growing, along with a
(02:56):
lot of pebbles.
On another side we had rosebushes that were growing.
And the one advice that I gotbecause you know how sometimes
you want to go and startgardening and you think, oh, yep
, I'm going to buy everythingand put it in and it's all going
to grow.
It doesn't always work that waybecause it's expensive, let's
be honest.
It's expensive, it is timeconsuming and it's a commitment.
(03:18):
The best advice that I got backthen was divide your garden
into different parts and work oneach one, each section, and the
first thing I did was I startedwith fruit trees.
I love fruits, so that's thefirst thing I started.
We started off with five fruittrees, and then I'll tell you I
(03:40):
wasn't working back then.
So gardening is a bit pricey,so for me, I had to medically
sit down and say all right, whatdo I want?
Have this little garden budgetthe day I got my first job in
the next two months.
I looked at my husband and Isaid all right, I want to do the
garden.
Can you do this?
What if I lose my job?
Let's do the garden now.
(04:01):
Let's get it done.
We took 10 days off and wetransformed the garden straight
away.
We already had the fruit reason.
We had a few plants on the side, we put a lawn in, we put two
veggie beds, two massive veggiebeds and we thought, yep, this
looks fantastic.
For two people, this is enough.
That was the initial stage.
(04:22):
What my husband did not know andI'll tell you he's a very
patient man it was over the lastfew years after, and I was
scheming different ideas in myhead.
No, I love it.
I was looking at the garden, Iwas looking at the sides and I'm
thinking you know what?
We have all of this space.
I really want to put it to use.
The first thing I did thenafter that was the side where we
(04:42):
had a pagola.
I started putting fruit treesin there.
I put a pear tree, I put a,I've got a goba tree in there
and I've got a pomegranate tree,because I wanted to have that
nice place.
You know where you're sittingin the pagola and you have the
fruit trees laid in with fruit,you can go and pluck out a fruit
and eat.
That was the vision in my head.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, that sounds ideal.
It does.
It is magic.
I love it, it is.
It is a form of magic.
It's like what you were sayingearlier Watching your aunties
grow things from seed and thendevelop into the flower and
fruit.
It really does feel like a formof magic sometimes, doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
It does it does.
The last side that wetransformed, I would say during
COVID time, was what we call asRaspberry lane, which is about a
20 meter strip that we have atthe side of the house.
Every house has that 20 meterstrip where you either just
(05:42):
throw mulch or you'll put someyakas in there.
But I saw potential becausewhat I saw was the daylight you
get.
That part of the garden getsjust a little bit of sunlight.
Good enough for about five, sixhours.
I thought you know what?
What's the best that can growhere?
Raspberry's.
Let's put every colored berrythat I can think of in here and
(06:04):
see what happens.
It's been a massive berry patch.
We formally call it Raspberrylane because it has every color
berry that we have growing in it.
I have more berries than I caneat.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Oh, wonderful.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
I have more berries than I can eat, I end up giving
it to friends, I end up makingmuffins to take to work berry
muffins to take to work and Iend up freezing them and using
them throughout the year.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Oh lovely, and I'm sure your colleagues were
pleased with that.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Oh, they have high expectations, I'll tell you that
.
But yeah, I do like sharingstuff, so I don't mind doing it.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Beautiful.
So cooking is also a part ofyour gardening journey, is that
right?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I love to eat, so definitely cooking is part of my
journey.
Cooking, preserving food.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Oh lovely.
There's nothing quite like thetaste of your homegrown produce,
is there?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And I'll tell you, I grew aradio the last couple of years
for that, the last bit that wehad was the lawn.
And I managed to convince myhusband, saying you know what?
We don't have kids.
Why do we have a lawn?
Why do we have a lawn?
I do not want to have a lawn.
I'm I kind of I don't want togive out my age, but I'm at that
age where you think, like youknow, if you don't do this now,
(07:16):
when are you going to do it?
And that's when he said, ok, Imanaged to convince him to get
rid of the lawn.
We got rid of the lawn, we gotthe lawn, which is such a big
deal, and we managed to put inabout seven more beds.
So in total, I now have 15garden beds.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Oh, my goodness, I love it.
So what?
What kind of land are youworking with their Penelope?
Is it quite a large block?
Speaker 2 (07:45):
It's a regular suburban block.
I would say that the gardenitself would be around maybe 200
meters.
Oh, ok, 200 square feet, 200square feet somewhere around
there.
Yeah, that's excellent.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
So, in addition to your berries and the fruit trees
are you growing?
Vegetables or.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Oh, yes, absolutely I love growing vegetables.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Lovely.
So what kind of things do youcurrently have in your garden?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
At the moment being somehow we've got everything.
Some of that's growing.
I love growing.
I love growing things that youdon't get in the market.
Yes, that's not like tomatoes.
Different colored tomatoes,different flavors, different
sizes that whole rainbow on theplate is something that I like
looking at.
So different colored tomatoes.
We've grown cucumbers.
I have to tell you they are myarch enemy.
(08:33):
They give me trouble year onyear, but this year they're
being good.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
What kind of challenges do you face with the
cucumbers?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I.
My biggest challenge withcucumbers is once I grow them
from a seedling and I put themin the ground.
Either they are stunted or theygrow, they don't pollinate and
they die off, and I've alwayswondered why was that the cause?
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Oh, ok.
So sometimes a lack ofpollination can be caused by a
reduced number of bees andpollinators in the area, so that
could be occurring.
Have you ever hand pollinatedyour plants?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I do.
I find cucumbers a bit dicey,but I have learned a little
secret to it.
Oh, what's your secret?
I can tell you, please, whatI've done this year.
I'll tell you.
I realized that with the soilthat we had in one of our garden
beds it is the word that'scalled it's called hydrophobic.
Hydrophobic means when you putwater on the soil, it runs off.
(09:31):
The soil doesn't absorb it.
So that was one of the mainproblems, and what I've learned
is you've got to fix that beforeyou can even put your plants in
.
So what we did this year was weused a whole lot of homemade
compost Lovely, we used manualand we used coil and we mixed it
up really well and that helpedwith the soil.
(09:51):
That also helped with theplants because they were able.
I noticed that they were ableto grow much better this year
and we grew a lot of floweringplants around, so that
definitely helped withpollination.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Oh, fantastic, wonderful, yeah, so a bit of
composting and ensuring that theflowers attracting those
pollinators are present.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
That's correct and the soil is everything.
It's something that I guess wedon't generally pay attention to
.
We take it for granted, butreally your soil is everything.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
That's very true.
Lots of people do overlook thesoil.
We sometimes tend to think, ohwell, there's some dirt we can
plant in it.
But it's not always that simple, is it?
Speaker 2 (10:34):
That is correct.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Yeah, there's quite a lot to ensuring that the
nutrient levels in your soil arecorrect, and particularly for
what you're trying to grow, too.
Different things requiredifferent levels.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Absolutely.
And worms?
You have to see worms in yoursoil.
You know that soil is good whenyou see those worms wriggling
out.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yes, lovely.
You mentioned earlier, penelope, moving to the country and to
this country and the differencesin gardening there.
Are you happy to share a littlebit more about that, where
you've come from and what thedifferences are?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yes, absolutely so.
Now, if I tell you my heritage,I'm Indian.
Yes, I was born and brought upoverseas, in the Gulf and the
place that I'm used to overthere, I've always lived in an
apartment, so I had more of anindoor garden.
I wasn't able to really growfruits and veg back home because
(11:35):
, again, it was difficult, therewas lack of knowledge.
There wasn't much knowledge.
The time when I started toexpand my garden collection in
India was when I used to go tomy mother-in-law's house my
third mother-in-law's house,what she said, my mother-in-law
because while I had to pass thehouse, there were about six
nurseries in a line.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Oh, lovely.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
And I used to go meet her and after that I spent the
rest of the next few hours justgoing through the nurseries
learning about plants, trying tounderstand the structure of the
soil, everything else.
I'm originally from Bombay, sofor me I used to tropical plants
.
I'm used to tropical plants,tropical fruits.
(12:17):
The flavor is so sweet I'lltell you.
In India, if you buy a papaya,it is like sugar.
It's like eating sugar, evenmango Goavers everything Mangoes
are, and you know what.
There are so many differenttypes of mangoes in India.
It's insane.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Oh wow, where did you have?
Did you have a favorite?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
The.
There's one called as theAlfonso mango.
Okay, it is the sweetest youcan.
When you, when you smell thetop of the mango, it should
smell like sugar.
Oh yeah, that's how you knowit'll be sweet.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Lovely.
So you mentioned you learnedabout soil and things like that
early on in the piece, so youreally started from the ground
up, so to speak.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I did, I did, and you know what.
What I realized as well is thatyou have to.
You have to learn by looking atyour plants, because I feel
like plants actually talk to you.
They tell you when they needsomething Like my lemon tree is
very vocal.
She'll tell me if she needsiron, if she needs magnesium.
She'll throw a tantrum and dropleaves if it's too hot, because
(13:20):
she wants water, and then I'mlike okay, I get you.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
What are some of those cues in terms of a plant
lacking magnesium and thingslike that?
What would she say to you?
How would you communicate thatwith you?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, she would show me yellowing between the veins.
It could be either yellowingbetween the veins or yellowing
on the outside of the leeway.
You can see that there's moregreen between the veins but a
slight hint of yellow.
So, not to confuse myself, Igive them both, I give them
happy.
I'm like here is your magnesium, here is some iron and you know
(13:56):
what?
It's not just lemon trees, butit's any tree, it's any tree.
I find that a plant performsmuch better when you give them
magnesium, especially at theseedling stage.
That's what I do with my tomatoseedlings.
Like you, can grow them in atiny pot in that seedling pot
only for some time, but there'sonly so much nutrients that
little pot will carry.
(14:17):
So you have to keep topping itup.
You have to keep looking at theleaves, looking for signs,
seeing if they are fungaldiseases, and treat it
accordingly.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Very true indeed.
So what do you apply toincrease the magnesium levels?
Speaker 2 (14:33):
You can buy magnesium from the store, like they call
this, epsom salts.
You get them at bunnings.
Yeah, it's just a plain packet.
They're little white salts.
You can just buy them and applythem If you wanted to work
quicker.
You get it in a liquid form aswell, where you can just pour in
.
The plant can absorb thenutrients directly.
(14:54):
But I just go the powder where,just before the sprinkler, some
powder every quarter keepseveryone happy.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Yes, yes, lovely, thank you.
And when you mentioned beforethe tomato plants, while we're
on nifty tricks, have you everheard of burying a banana peel
at the base of the tomato plant?
Speaker 2 (15:14):
I've heard that.
I've heard about the banana.
I've heard about the egg.
Oh, the egg.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
I haven't heard that one.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
There is the egg, there's fish heads as well the
banana I dig into the soil.
So what I do is one thing I dois I love going lettuce and
salads, and sometimes you findall of these things just tend to
go to seed with a change inweather, that's all.
It requires One hot day andit's like, oh no, I'm done for
the day.
So these things that go to seed, I have the habit of just it's
(15:44):
called the chop and drop method,where you just chop them down
and you turn them over in thesoil and what that does is that
breaks down.
And while I do that, I try tofeed extra stuff that we have
from the kitchen all yourkitchen scraps, like your
watermelon, watermelon rind,your banana leaves, your apple
core, anything I find around thehouse.
I'm like, yep, this can go intothe, into the soil.
(16:07):
I will just, I will just startto turn it over into the soil.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
And you find that quite effective.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
I do find it effective because again you have
the microbes in the soil thatbreak it down and then you get
that it all becomes compost.
You have nice soft soil becauseof the microbes, the earthworms
.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Beautiful, lovely.
So what has been one of yourbiggest challenges in the garden
, penelope?
Perhaps a failure that youwould be happy to talk about,
that others can learn from?
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Growing chilies.
I have to say growing chilies.
I love chilies, being Indianchilies are my thing.
So when I was not able to growchilies, I was worried.
I was like this is not right.
This should happenautomatically.
Why is it this happening?
But there are tricks to it.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
There are some tricks .
The soil temperature is themost common hurdle that I found
with the chilies.
Yeah, they need a nice hottemperature in the soil to
germinate, which can stump somegardeners.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
That is correct.
And also with that I've learnedthat in Melbourne you've got to
start early.
Yes, you have to start early.
You cannot wait for, likeOctober to put your seeds in.
You have to start like I'lltell you.
I personally start in at theend of June, beginning July.
I start putting my seeds inpotting mix, put it on a heat
(17:32):
mat till it germinate it juststarts to pop out and then move
it into individual little potsand underneath a grow light.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
So you have found a way to overcome that challenge
with the chilies, then Correct,wonderful, wonderful, and I'm
sure they don't grow to waste inthe kitchen either, as you say.
You love to eat them.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
I have to tell you I don't buy chilies anymore.
I just grow them and I freezethem.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Oh, wonderful.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah, I like preserving food.
I enjoy preserving food.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Yeah, I think it's very important skill to learn
too.
Do you have a favourite method,penelope?
Speaker 2 (18:13):
If I'm doing tomatoes it would have to be the canning
method wherein you puree yoursorry, you make a puree off your
tomatoes so you boil them tillthey become really thick.
I tend to blend them after that.
Then, while the puree is hot,you put them in jars.
(18:33):
Your jars also have to be hot.
They'd have to go into an ovenat 100 degrees so that they are
warm.
So they always say your liquidor whatever you're putting into
the jar needs to be warm.
So warm liquid, warm jar pourin a jar.
Then I would seal it.
I would just put the cap on andclose and leave it on the table
(18:55):
and it pops automatically.
Some people use somethingcalled as the Fowler method,
where they put the jars inboiling water.
I used to do that but I don'tdo that anymore because I find
that both methods actually work.
But one thing I do do is I adda teaspoon of citric acid to my
tomato puree because I know thatthat'll extend the shelf life.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Oh, very clever.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, absolutely, and anything I jar, I add a
teaspoon of citric acid.
That's one thing that my mom'sfriend had taught me a long,
long time ago.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Oh lovely.
It's the beauty of sharedwisdom, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Speaking of the beauty of shared wisdom, is
there any particular plant orflower that takes you back to a
special moment in your life?
That could be a moment in thegarden with a loved one, or just
something that you learned thatyou hold very dear.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I would have to say.
The one thing that I love a lotis and I recently started to
like them more as flowersgrowing flowers.
It's something that I wasn'tinto a long time ago and back in
the day.
When you buy flowers, flowersare expensive.
Let's be honest.
You can't always buy flowersevery week.
(20:13):
My mom loves gladiolize.
She loves, loves, gladiolize.
We had every vase in the househad gladiolize.
Plastic, mind you, plastic, notreal plastic ones.
And it was typical back in theold days that you'd put plastic
over everything.
So all her plastic gladiolizehad plastic and she would always
(20:36):
tell me I really like theseflowers, I really like these
flowers.
So I started growing gladiolizebecause she likes gladiolize
and I've taken a liking to thembecause it reminds me of her.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Oh, I love that.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yeah, and while she's in the funny part now, while
she's no more with me.
She passed away two years ago.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
I'm sorry to hear that.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yeah, it's all right.
I still grew gladiolize becauseof her.
What a beautiful tribute.
Yeah, and they.
You know what they flower inher birth month.
Every year they all flower inJanuary.
My mom was born in Jan.
They flower during that time,so it's even nicer, it's special
to me.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Lovely, that is very special.
Thank you for sharing thatstory with us, Penelope.
That's lovely.
So the gladiolize would they beyour favorite plant to grow?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
They are because of my mom.
They're.
I wouldn't say they're myfavorite, they're probably my
second favorite.
My favorite plant would be mymandarin tree.
To be honest, I love mymandarin tree to death.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Oh lovely.
Is it a dwarf variety or?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
He is a dwarf, he's an imperial mandarin tree, oh
yum.
He was a little problematicchild when I bought him.
Oh yeah, he was a littleproblematic child and I'll give
you some wisdom about citrustrees, which is what I learned
as well.
Yeah, with citrus trees, mostpeople, when you buy the tree
(21:59):
from the shop, if they are veryadvanced, you will get the fruit
.
You might get a few fruit, butwith citrus trees it takes three
years for the roots to developunder the soil and only once the
base is developed then the topwill take off.
Okay, it took me five yearswith this plant.
I almost gave up because, withhim as well, when we bought him
(22:22):
from the store I didn't realizethat he had there was those leaf
miners.
He had leaf miners on him.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Oh, yes, yep, oh, they can be quite the hassle.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
They are a bit of a pain.
Yes, we killed a leaf miner, weput him in a spot and he was
not happy because, again, citrusdon't like wet feet.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yeah, they don't like wet feet.
He wasn't happy there, movedhim somewhere else, lost all his
leaves, sat there for two yearsand one day I just thought you
know what this plant is useless,let's chuck him out, as
everyone says.
I went to pull them out but hedidn't come out.
I tried to pull him, pull himand I fell down on the ground
pulling him, and then I said,all right.
I was like if you want to live,live.
(23:06):
If you want to die, it's up toyou.
And I walked away and in twomonths he took off.
He just took off.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
He just needed some encouragement.
Perhaps.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
That's it, that's it.
And now we get.
I'll tell you, we get at leastabout three to 400 mandrons
every second year.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Oh, that's fantastic.
That's wonderful.
And how did you treat the leafminer?
Speaker 2 (23:32):
I do not use sprays.
All I do is I flip the leaf atthe back and I use my fingernail
to actually crush the leafminer.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Oh, okay, and that's quite effective.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
It is effective because they die instantly.
It's quicker than putting aspray and waiting.
I just use my finger and justcrush them off.
I don't have that issue anymorebecause the tree is very
healthy.
So I've freed the tree withmagnesium.
I give them iron, I do.
I do six monthly feeds as wellof of manual oh, okay, Last worm
(24:06):
compost.
So I try and keep them ashealthy as I can.
I don't get these issues.
They do come, but not often.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Yes, oh, that's good.
It sounds like you take a lotof preventative measures in the
garden as well.
Yes, yes, as they say,prevention is better than cure.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
It's very true.
So what about?
We've touched on somechallenges.
What about some of yourtriumphs, or your greatest
successes in the garden?
Speaker 2 (24:37):
That's a good question, jamma.
That's an absolutely goodquestion.
My recent triumph would be andI've not yet put on Instagram,
but would have to be my peartree.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Oh, or pears are delicious yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
We bought this little .
I don't think she's a, I thinkshe's a pixie pear tree, one of
those do-offy ones that growsonly up to two meters high.
Ah yes, we bought her about 11or 12 years ago and we put her
in the ground.
We would feed her everythingpossible every year and we never
got fruit.
(25:11):
Oh, and we were like what'shappening?
And I thought, okay, at leastit's got green leaves, it looks
nice, that should be fine.
And then, finally, we were myhusband's like, but why aren't
we getting any fruit?
So we so we named her the freeloader.
Oh, so yeah, we've likecertainly given up on the tree,
thinking, yep, nothing's goingto happen, nothing's going to
(25:32):
happen.
So we spotted pears on the tree.
They're so lovely.
So, and it's been like I can'tbelieve it Like look, after 12
years, you suddenly see bears.
12 years, 12 years for bears.
Wow, I think about seven oreight bears that are on the tree
.
I've been like guarding thetree, like don't ask, but like
(25:55):
no critter, no wind, no lighting, nothing's going to touch these
bears.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
That's understandable .
I think 12 years is a very longtime to wait.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
You're a patient, lady Penelope, oh Wonderful.
So when it comes to yourvegetable beds that you
mentioned, that you now have 15beds, what are they made up of
primarily?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
So I use the corrugated iron beds.
Ah, yes, yeah, I like thembecause I feel like they're
sturdy, they're hearty, they'regood, they've lasted me a long
time.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
They also add a really nice rustic feel to the
garden too, don't they?
Speaker 2 (26:34):
They do.
They certainly do, but you haveto be careful with your layout
when you put those beds.
I feel like the normal waywhere people put one behind the
other.
And my dad called us out whenhe visited me last year.
He looked at the beds inbetween and one said that we had
.
In between were four Sort of.
There was one on the left, oneon the right and one at the back
, one in the front.
(26:54):
And he looked at it and he saidwhat are those coffins doing
there?
And I'm like dad, those aregarden beds, they're not coffins
.
He's like they look likecoffins and that's why I thought
, yeah, we should have thoughtof a nice way of designing that.
But it's all right.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
The beauty of hindsight, though, so.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yes, but they're very sturdy.
They're good beds.
I'll tell you, they last long.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Oh, good, good.
And what are you growing inthose?
Speaker 2 (27:23):
So, with some of our vegetables at the moment, we've
got beans.
We've got two different typesof beans.
We've got the yellow wax beans,We've got the purple climbing
beans, the scarlet beans.
We've got heaps of chilies andcapsicums.
Oh lovely, I'm just trying tocalculate.
We've got three beds of chiliesand capsicums.
(27:45):
I like dividing my garden intosections, so at the moment we
have got about I'm just tryingto think we've got about three
different beds of tomatoes andbecause they're in a certain
section, we call that tomatotown.
Oh, ok, suitable name Suitablename Because when you enter
(28:09):
there there is tomato town.
Yeah, and on the corner thereis there's chili corner, because
there's just chilies andcapsicums going around the
corner.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
I like it.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Yeah, there's chili and capsicum corner.
We have got.
We had sunflowers.
I love sunflowers.
They're a bit crazy, especiallywhen the seeds start to scatter
everywhere.
They just pop up, which is sobeautiful.
You see little yellow heads allaround the place.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
It is lovely, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Absolutely.
We have onions in another bed.
We have one more bed which isfull of potatoes, full, full of
potatoes, love potatoes.
We have zucchinis, zucchinisquash.
We have dahlias.
We have carrots growingsomewhere else.
There's always spring onions inthe garden because you know
(28:56):
fried rice is the best thing toeat, so there has to be spring
onions, oh yum, delicious.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Yes, I have to agree with that.
Fried rice and potatoes.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Fried rice and potatoes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Yes, I'm a big, big fan of potatoes myself too.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Oh, really Yucky.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Oh, yes, yeah, and it is a vegetable, so it's OK.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Absolutely, absolutely.
It's a good cup.
That's gone at a good cup,that's right.
Yeah, herbs.
Herbs are everywhere around thegarden.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Oh beautiful.
What herbs are you growing?
Speaker 2 (29:30):
We have the.
We have perpetual basil,because regular basil dies with
me, so perpetual basil is safe.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Yes, yeah, basil is one of my favorite herbs too, oh
.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
I said OK, I love it.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
I love drying it Very versatile.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Yeah, so you do dry your herbs and do you then grind
them and use them as theseasoning, or how do you store
them to keep?
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I do not always grind them, so I grind a portion of
them.
So I have I'll tell you what Ido.
I grind so with all the herbs Igrow.
So I have parsley, I haveVietnamese mint, I have basil,
we have regular mint, we havebay leaves as well, plus we have
lemon myrtle.
A part of these are dehydrated,our dehydrated, so I dehydrate
(30:22):
them and I grind them to apowder, and the rest I keep
fresh.
The ones which are ground, Ilike to add in marinades.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Oh, yes, you make the marinades yourself and add in
your herbs.
Yes, beautiful.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
That is correct.
Marinades, pizza sauces,curries in patties, in burgers,
salad dressings.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Oh, that sounds mouth-watering.
I'll look forward to a dinnerinvite.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Oh, absolutely.
Come home anytime.
We're never short of food inthis house.
Come home anytime.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Isn't that wonderful knowing that you can rely on
yourself as well for your foods,your vegetables and your herbs
and fruits, and it's such a goodfeeling, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
It's the best feeling .
I'll tell you, that's when Ifelt grateful during COVID time,
especially when there was thatscare that everyone was going
didn't want to go out of thehouse.
There were.
I remember the ceilings andbunnings were all over seeds.
People had bought seeds, yes,and I had some packets of
expired seeds which I thought,oh, let's give this a try and
(31:29):
things grow, properly grow, somany things grow and I was like,
oh, it's good.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
So is there anything you would like to see more of in
the gardening realm?
Do you think more people shouldbe getting their hands dirty
and learning about growing theirown foods?
Speaker 2 (31:45):
I think with today's generation, I think the
youngsters need to learn moreabout where their food comes
from and have a betterappreciation towards their food.
To be honest, Like a lot ofthem do not know that to grow a
single tomato takes you sixmonths.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Yes, that's true.
Understanding where our foodcomes from does provide a whole
new appreciation for it.
Yep.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I was going to say, even if people, if you can't
grow fruit, like I have, a lotof friends say, or I kill plants
, I can't grow plants, I killplants.
Okay, grow flowers, not foryourself, but grow them for the
bees.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Yes, indeed, yes, a lot of people too, it's they
don't realise without them, wehave no food.
It's not just the flowers, it'sthe food that they pollinate.
They are vital and they are introuble.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Absolutely absolutely .
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Yeah, do you have a favourite flower to grow for the
bees?
Speaker 2 (32:38):
At the moment.
The bees love dahlias.
They're enjoying dahlias.
I like calendulas.
I find calendulas the mostreliable flower because they can
grow throughout the year.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Yes, yes, and colourful too.
They add a nice pop of colourto a garden, don't they?
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Absolutely, it's a medicinal plant as well.
Yes, yeah, it is one of thebest flowers and it's self seed,
so you don't have to doanything, it just grows by
itself.
Oh, and that's a bonus?
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Absolutely.
I actually had some nasturtiumself seed and I know they can be
quite difficult to germinatenasturtiums.
So anytime I see some poppingup in the garden that I didn't
plant, I'm very grateful and Imake sure I let it know.
That too, I say a little thankyou.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Oh, that's cute.
They are a really good flower.
They do their own thing.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
They do, yes, and the bees love them as well.
And again, also a medicinaledible plant.
The nasturtium is a bit peppery.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Yes, absolutely.
It's such a good plant that youcan use for it's a
multi-purpose plant, isn't it?
The leaves, the seeds, theflowers.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Indeed, yeah, and they make quite pretty
decorations too in presenting ameal cakes or biscuits, things
like that.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Yeah, it can look quite beautiful, that is correct
.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Yeah, I do really appreciate plants that have that
multi-use that you mentioned.
I find that very enriching forthe garden.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Yes, that is correct.
Always looking for benefits,always looking for benefits.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Yes, yeah, A bit of companion planting too, Both the
calendula that you mentionedand nasturtiums.
They're fantastic companionplants too for certain types.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Yeah, you can fill an empty space also in the garden.
If you've got an empty space,they can fill up that little
empty space, so it doesn't lookbad.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
Yes, that's true.
Yeah, and it's quite nice too,and they can be rambling.
The nasturtiums can be quitesprawling and pretty yeah, Now
that's a very good point.
There are some.
I have some favourite spacefillers in my garden.
Do you have any in particularthat are your go-tos?
Speaker 2 (34:46):
I at the moment want to.
This is my plan to get a lot ofpansies and violas and put them
in.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Oh lovely, yes, very pretty.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Yeah, because it will self-seed as well.
The garden will get more colour.
That's on my wish list at themoment because we've just been
From the time.
We've redone the whole garden,we've just been trying to just
manage it at the moment and Ikeep thinking we do need to get
some more colour in the garden.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Yes, lovely.
So may I ask you, penelope,what do you personally get out
of gardening?
Second to the produce, ofcourse, what does it do for you?
What do you love most about it?
Speaker 2 (35:28):
It gives me happy.
It just gives me happy,beautiful.
It's like.
It's that mental happiness.
It's exercise, which is anotherthing, that's true, yes, and it
keeps your brain going.
It's one of the things myfriend was telling me about a
while ago.
She said that you need to havea hobby that keeps you busy,
(35:51):
that keeps your brain busy,because if you have your brain
busy which is again all thisplanning, thinking I need to
pick this, pick that you haveyour body working.
It's the best thing.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
It really does take a lot of boxes, doesn't it Like
the spiritual, mental, physical.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Yes, absolutely, that's the word I was going for.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Yes, it is.
It's quite wonderful, and oneof the best things I find is
that there's always more tolearn.
We won't ever stop learning inthe garden, and that's, I think,
quite powerful.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
Oh, absolutely there's.
You can write as you can readit, as many books as you want,
but you'll still keep learning.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
Indeed indeed.
Is there anything in particularthat you've learned on your
journey that you would havenever expected to learn?
Speaker 2 (36:38):
With gardening, you require patience, you just
require patience, and you can'tgive up, because I mean, why
would you give up?
You can't give up.
I've tried to give up and Ithought you know what?
This is not me.
I need to do this.
The chili plants that died.
I was like no man.
How can you die on me?
We need to try this again.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Yeah, that's it, if at first you don't succeed.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Yeah, just do it, just try it again.
Just do it and expand.
I think every gardener who youspeak to is always looking for a
way to sneak in new plants andexpand, grow something different
, add more fruit.
Can't sit quietly with twoplants and think, yep, that's it
, I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
No, no, it's quite addictive.
It is addictive, but it's agood addiction in the garden.
So what about future plans?
Speaking of not being able tosit still, is there anything
that you'd like to try with yourgarden in the future, penelope?
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Yes, I do want to try .
It's on my list.
It's one of my things to do inwinter is basically plant a
couple more fruit trees.
I have my mind on a persimmon,because I love persimmon it is
such a beautiful fruit and acherry tree.
I've got a cherry tree which Ialmost killed twice over the
(37:52):
last two weeks because of theheat span.
Oh no, but that is the goal totry and grow both of those fruit
trees.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Lovely, so is your plan to have fruits available
each season.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
The funny part is it actually works out that way.
I'll tell you how it works withme.
So the raspberries and theberries and this is one thing
I've.
It took me time to learnbecause you don't know these
things you go into a shop andyou just buy a plant, but every
fruit has got three seasons.
They have the early season, themid season and late season
(38:30):
varieties.
I did not think about that whenbuying fruit trees With my
garden.
Luckily it works out this waythat from the end of November
till almost the end of mid ofDecember we get a lot of
raspberries, the raspberries,blackberries, yellow berries.
(38:50):
They continue.
The whole berry seasoncontinues till December.
From Feb starts the nectarines.
The nectarine season starts inmy garden from Feb, going till
about mid-March.
That's when.
That's when, after that, thefig season starts.
Fig season starts in my garden.
After the fig season starts theapples.
(39:12):
So I've got two different typesof apples.
I've got Pink Lady and I've gotthe Granny Smith.
That continues from about April, may and goes on till June.
I'm going to say it goes on.
And most people wonder why doesit go on till June?
Because I picked the fruit whenthey are the ripest, when they
are red when they are thesweetest, because that's when
(39:34):
you'll get the flavor.
Then you can store your applesfor at least about five, six
months.
That's what I do in the coolestroom of the house, yeah, once
the apples are over.
Well, now we're getting pears.
This year we have thepomegranates as well.
Pomegranates work after that,oh delicious.
Then starts the lemon and themandarin.
So we sort of have a patterngoing on here for six months
(39:57):
where we just have fruit fromthe garden.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
That's wonderful.
I love that.
That was an accidental reward,was it?
Speaker 2 (40:04):
That was an accidental reward.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Oh, I'm sorry, you have to love those, you have to
love them.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
That's one of the benefits also of taking the time
to observe your garden, whichis it's also one of the
principles of permaculture.
Is observation To watch yourgarden for an entire year, so
all of the season cycles passthrough, and that gives you a
much better connection to yourgarden, a deeper understanding
(40:32):
of what's appearing, when andwhat may need to be repositioned
or is thriving in particularareas too.
So it sounds like the fruittrees in your garden are very
happy.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
They better be.
They are happy, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Oh, I hope you're biting into some delicious pears
in no time, I'm sure you will.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Absolutely Yep, yep, looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
So is there anything, penelope, that you were hoping
I would ask you, and I haven't?
Speaker 2 (41:06):
Let me think about this One thing I would like.
I'll tell you one thing that Iwould like people to do.
And I see a lot of peoplemostly like, once they get a lot
of produce especially newgardeners they're most happy
about yeah, I've got so muchproduce, what do I do with it?
And people ask me as well.
When they see my post, they'relike oh, you've got so much of
food, what do you do with it?
Because there's only two of you.
But I think that there is anart in preservation and people
(41:29):
should really learn to preservefood more than anything else.
I love preserving food.
I love preserving food.
Now, in the next two weekends,I will take out the potatoes
from the, from the veggie patch,and I'll put them in cardboard
boxes and I know that thosepotatoes will serve me for at
least the next five months fiveto six months.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Oh, wonderful.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Wonderful.
So, yeah, I feel like the artof preservation is massive and I
think it's something thatpeople need to learn.
Like even apples we keep applesin the coldest room in the
house for a good six, sevenmonths and we just eat them
whenever people aren't reallyaware of these things.
Like even lemons this is thefirst year I learned to make
(42:11):
lemon silo and I'm over the moon.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
Oh, yeah, yes.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Yeah, Out of preserving these things.
You get great to share stuffwith family and friends, but
learn to preserve these thingsfor yourself for the long run,
because you never know the waythe world is going when you
actually have to stop and becomesustainable.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
That is very true, very true.
And, as you said, storing theapples for six months.
I think lots of people don'trealise the apples that they'll
pick from the supermarketshelves are often already that
old, so they think you know.
Some people may be hearing thisand saying you know they're not
going to be able to storeapples for six months, but they
(42:53):
do.
They last quite a long time inthe right conditions, don't they
?
Speaker 2 (42:57):
They do.
We have pumpkins that have saton the table for a year.
They just sit on the table.
That's it.
Yeah, lovely.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
They're happy or lucky.
Yeah, they're good storeers.
Pumpkins Do you have aparticular variety of pumpkin?
You find stores best?
Speaker 2 (43:13):
I would say the Cinderella pumpkin.
I love the Cinderella pumpkin.
It's my favourite.
I'm not a fan of eatingpumpkins, I just like growing
them because they're so pretty.
When I get over my, when I lookat them and I get over my OK,
I'm done looking at them.
I will cut them, divide themand give them to friends, or we
freeze part of them.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
Oh, yes, that's a good idea too.
Yeah, so would that be youradvice to anybody starting their
gardening journey now, penelope, would you say that you'd
advise them to learn the art ofpreservation?
Speaker 2 (43:46):
I would.
I would ask them, if you'rejust starting their garden, to
have patience.
Have patience, do not give up.
It's OK if you kill a plant.
I've killed plants.
I've killed so many plants, butyou know what.
That's why they have so manyseeds, so you can grow them
again.
That's right.
Yes indeed.
So keep trying, keep trying andlearn to preserve your food.
(44:07):
Preservation is a beautifulskill which, if I'm not mistaken
, everyone's grandparents,great-grandparents all did.
Back in the day when we didn'thave fridges, everyone did
preservation.
So it's not an old skill, it'snot a new skill.
Sorry, it's an old skill, butit's a great skill to have.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
And very important too, like you say, food security
as well.
It's our best to know, correctIndeed.
So before we sign off, Penelope, could you please share with us
how our listeners can find outa bit more about you and your
garden?
Where can they find you?
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
So I have an Instagram account.
It's called as Queen Penelope'sPatch and they can follow me
there.
If they have any questions thatrequire any gardening help,
just shoot me and shoot me amessage, and I'm always happy to
take a look.
I'll probably ask you for aphotograph if you tell me my
plant is a disease.
So just send me a photograph orlook at it.
I'll give you my advice, tellyou what I think.
(45:06):
I will cheer you when you haveyour wins in the garden.
If any of you have yourfailures, I will stand by you
and say you know what that plantwas?
A stupid plant.
Anyway, let's do another one.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Wonderful, wonderful.
So some gardening support also.
And for anyone who has not yetseen Penelope's Instagram page
at Queen Penelope's Patch, Ithink you should definitely jump
on and have a look at theamazing thing she's growing, but
the photographs are absolutelydivine.
Penelope, I think you'd havesome luck trying your hand at
(45:37):
some professional photographytoo.
I've thought about it.
Speaker 2 (45:41):
I can't say I haven't thought about it.
I have thought about it.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Vibrant, the colors are rich.
They're truly wonderful.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
The produce speaks for itself.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Perfect, perfect Well , thank you so much for your
time today, penelope.
You've been a real wealth ofknowledge and I've absolutely
loved chatting with you.
I truly appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (46:03):
Thank you so much, Emma.
You are awesome and I wish youthe best.
Have fun in your garden.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
Oh, thank you and likewise Thanks for listening.
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