It could be said that getting down and dirty in your first vegetable garden has a

lot in common with your first encounter with love. There will be some regrets, a
few awkward moments but you will always remember your first vegetable patch with
some happily wistful memories. Thankfully, just as with love, gardening is not an
exact science and it’s usually best to just go with your feelings.
To a novice the rhythm of the garden seems to be slow, with almost imperceptible
changes from day to day but once you are plugged into the cycle of plants you will
feel the force of nature and realise that if you are after a garden that will be
productive all year round, it’s a case of year-round action - allegro non adagio.
All great gardens [large and small] have been created by those who have understood
the temporary nature of our short visit to this planet, but a person who can leave
behind a garden knows that another will probably carry on, and their vision may
endure.
But enough of this romantic bullshit, and on with the real cow manure.
If you are gardening in confined spaces begin with small pots or boxes. Container
gardens do well combined with small worm farms and mini-composting systems.
Communal gardens on the roof of high-rise buildings are growing more and more
popular. Community gardens provide a good place to meet fellow gardeners and begin
to plug into a local network. Each season in the garden is as busy as any other
and good preparation is the key to success. Planning a successful, largely self-
sustaining garden needs consideration and foresight. Try to visualise your garden
in a year’s time and set realistic goals but also be prepared to make a few
mistakes. I have redone the watering system here at Sunnybrae at least four times
in twenty years. Many plants that I hoped would thrive no longer do well, while
others that we thought would never get established have succeeded. To a true
gardener the time spent in the garden is as much of a reward in its self as the
fruits of your labour of love. Be prepared for unseasonal disasters– hail, frost
and wind are all part of the game. But a good frost in winter is essential for
some plants to thrive.
Where to start? Plant your trees first. It can be as simple as a bay tree, a
multi-grafted fruit tree, a couple of olive trees and a few citrus, all in tubs,
perhaps on the veranda if you are short of space. You can plant a herb and salad
garden underneath them, trail a couple of tomato plants over the balcony, and
you’re on your way.
One of the most common regrets [and I’ve had a few] that gardeners face is “why
the hell didn’t I plant those fruit trees earlier?” Most fruit trees will bear
after only two or three years, olives will give you fruit in about three years,
nuts take about five years until the first harvest, and truffles take seven years
under oaks; so the earlier they all go in the better. You can always take them
with you if you move to that elusive piece of dirt of your own. I know that the
young gardeners amongst you will see waiting two years as waiting forever, but
believe me, the seasons will flash by in no time and you will be rightly pleased
with yourself for having the foresight to plant the trees early.
Water conservation and supply is the most serious variable that you will
encounter, but sensible plant selection, mulching and capturing all available
rainwater will maximise what you can grow.
To understand which plants are suited to your area one of the best places to
attend is a local farmers’ market. Here you will meet growers and makers who will
be only too happy to let you know what’s in season now, but more importantly,
what’s coming up.
I’m going to suggest a few plants along the way; they are fruits and vegetables
that are particularly suited to where I live here at Birregurra in south-west
Victoria. Each district will be different, of course. The web will also give you
plenty of practical interactive garden design and plant selection opportunities
but there is no substitute for local knowledge. Seed catalogues will start to
become required reading. When purchasing plants or seeds beware of high-gloss
brochures with exquisite close-up colour photos of perfect plants. Shop around –
there are many seed companies offering heritage and flavourful vegetables, and
prices vary enormously. Cuttings are also a very simple and reliable way of
propagating many plants. Grapes, succulents, woody herbs like rosemary, olives and
many others are easily propagated by cuttings.
Many plants benefit from thinning and relocation. Dividing clumps of perennial
food plants adds an exponential expansion to your collection. Rhubarb, artichokes,
lovage, sage, chives and many other plants are all easily divisible. Artichokes
will yield about three to five new plants each year so three plants in three years
will deliver between 81 and 125 new plants. The basis of a new garden can be
sourced very easily from fellow gardeners who will be only too happy to give you a
few plants as they renew and re-pot their patch. You will, of course, return the
favour when you are able.
Once you embark on this journey you will begin to see plants in a different way.
If you are lucky enough to have a keen vegetable gardener as a neighbour, let them
know that you have started to grow your own and don’t be shy in asking for advice.

Getting the soil right early will save you a lot of work later. If you spend the
first year planning the beds or containers, ordering seeds and trees, setting up
drainage and watering systems, thinking about hardware, soil structure and
recycling, you will have spent a very productive year. If there are a few beds
ready early, let’s say its spring; I’d start with the nightshades, or solanaceae.
Here we have some of the most important plants from the new world that changed the
way we taste. Tomatoes, potatoes, chillies or eggplants anyone? There’s already
oregano and basil under the bay tree in that barrel, so quite a few tasty dishes
are sorted. Next year you can further explore this great group of plants with
tomatillo and Cape gooseberry. Spring is also for reaping the artichokes that you
planted in autumn, along with the broad beans and asparagus. A well-prepared
asparagus bed takes a little patience but after two years it will provide you with
tumescent spears annually for over 20 years. First, dig a one metre trench, add
about 300mm of sheep or chicken manure, add 100 mm lime and back-fill with good
enriched compost to a level of about 500mm. Plant two-year-old crowns over the
compost, then mulch occasionally and never look back. Each year all you will have
to do is top-dress, mulch, and get ready for far too much asparagus – a perfect
barter for eggs or other produce that your neighbours might have in abundance. I
love to grow garlic, as home-grown has a glorious pungency that is hard to find
commercially. It also keeps a few bugs at bay (along with those annoying
vampires!) Plant the best and biggest locally grown cloves you can find in winter,
around the shortest day, and be prepared to wait until it’s ready, around
Christmas time. A table grape vine will thrive in most areas; it will give you
shade and fruit in only a couple of years. Don’t worry about letting things go to
seed (agriculturally speaking!) Germinating your own seedlings will save money,
give you control of your planting schedule and allow you to save, swap and go
hunting for unusual heritage plants. Finding a perfect self-seeded radicchio
rosette in the strawberry patch will test which camp of gardeners you really
belong to. Some gardeners are complete control freaks, as exemplified in the
classic French renaissance garden of Villandry. Here, the vegetable garden, or
potager, is laid out in perfect geometric beds with box borders, designed to be
appreciated by the aristocracy from the terraces of their chateaux. This garden
has done more to sell coffee table books to an urbane, sophisticated and vicarious
market of non-gardeners than any other ‘grand design’. I prefer a peasant attitude
to gardening – a bit messy, but productive – and picking for ripeness, not
geometric perfection. Weeding can become a sort of meditation and natural weed
control can be planned early. A good knowledge of dangerous, hard-to-remove weeds
is essential if you wish to go down the garden path without using too much [or
indeed any] glyphosate, Round Up or other chemicals. Early natural weed control
before planting will save you many hours of toil.

In this age of seven-minute recipes and minimalist garden design you can find
inspiration from many backyard gardens of Asian and European immigrants. I am
always amazed when travelling how many countries fill every available space with a
produce garden. Travelling by train in Europe and Asia you can see them extending
dangerously close to the railway lines. You can always tell the richness of the
culinary tradition of a country by how land is allocated to vegetable gardening.
But don’t listen to me – get out there and get a second or third opinion.

We all love lists, so here are my Top 10 Hints on Getting Started

1. Make a plan. Remember, most food plants like full sun and wind protection.
This does not have to be too serious, do not get a consultant just yet
2. Get into a garden club
3. Go to the library [I know its old fashioned] and start reading
4. Find out which plants are suited to your area
5. Go to your local nurseries and farmers’ markets and start tasting and
cooking with seasonal produce
6. Don’t be afraid to begin with commercial seedlings
7. Set up a compost system from all your green waste and find a source of
local mulch – pea straw is king
8. Set up a simple watering system suited to your space
9. Buy a pair of really good secateurs and keep them with you at all times for
stealing/swapping cuttings
10. Share your produce, save your seeds and learn how to preserve the
inevitable seasonal excess

Here are my Top 20 personal food plant favourites, based on a “return for effort”
scale.

1. Asparagus; the plant that keeps on keeping on

2. Artichokes; their visual and culinary aesthetic is unsurpassed
3. Rhubarb; sweet and savoury use, superb foliage, also indestructible
4. Cos lettuce; no diseases, self seeds like buggery
5. Italian parsley; remember it’s a biennial
6. Wild Rocket [or ruchetta; lasts forever
7. Mustard greens; when you need a wasabi-like kick – also has great presence
8. Lemon and/or lime tree; needs summer water and shelter
9. Small melons such as Charentais or Ogden; need a bit of space
10. Kale and cavolo nero; excels in winter when the garden is largely dormant
11. Fennel ; good raw and cooked and as a herb
12. Passionfruit; a bit tricky but goes berserk in the right spot
13. Horseradish; hard to get rid of, but why would you want to?
14. Perennial herbs like sage, thyme, French tarragon, Greek oregano, Greek
basil
15. Fruit trees; apple, fig, quince, mulberry
16. Garlic; gives a stinking 12 to 1 return on investment
17. Tomatoes and chillies; don’t plant too early down south and don’t over-water
18. Purslane, rock samphire and aptenia for that neophiliac’s dry garden salad
19. Pumpkins; they will trail anywhere, even up an old Hills hoist
20. Olives; good for the soul as well as the larder