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Fiona's Garden
Over five years Fiona Kittelty and her husband have expanded an established cottage garden to include compost bays, a greenhouse, a chook house, and a She Shed. During the Covid lockdown, they did an online course in permaculture and decided to grow as much of their own food as possible.
In our food garden
Over fifteen fruit trees, a kitchen garden, a vegetable garden, and lots of berries. I have success with everything I grow. But I'm only growing things we definitely eat. I love starting my veggies from seed in my greenhouse.
I aim to preserve my harvest in various ways so we won't have to rely on supermarkets for our food. Besides being eaten fresh, this year's harvest will be canned, frozen, dehydrated, and made into jams, passata, tomato sauce, chutneys, and relishes. I don't use chemicals at all in my garden. We’re very proud of our extremely bird and frog-friendly garden.
Standout sustainable practices
We try to compost everything we can except weeds. They go into the council bin. We're still learning to get the heat right in the compost bays, so it's safe to add them.
My husband makes great compost using a three-bay compost system which we're about to expand to six bays. We have a worm farm, and I've sunk tubs for kitchen scraps into the ground beside fruit trees. The worms find their way into those tubs. The chooks get the rest of the scraps.
Top tip for novice gardeners
Read books and magazines, watch YouTube and gardening shows and go to open gardens. See what other people are doing and ask questions. Start with 'easy' veggies like lettuce, herbs, zucchini, and pumpkins.
Look out for
My very cute, very new She Shed.
For sale on the day
Veggie avatar
A tomato, a many-coloured chameleon with many uses.
7 Fernery Boulevard, Warragul
There is ample street parking.
We're on a sloping block, and there are steps. So, some but not all of our property is wheelchair accessible.
There are numerous water features and a pool. The pool gate will be open on the day to access the garden.