POSTED 27 JULY 2024

ANN OLIVER

A garden both flower and food was part of my childhood and has continued through my life. My Great Grandfather Oliver Marshal retired at 38, he was smart, but the main reason he could retire so young was inherited family wealth.

My maternal great-grandparents and grandparents had adjoining properties on Lambert Road, large blocks abundant with fruit trees, vegetables and flowers. One of my uncles, Leith was late to marry and grew prize-winning gladioli in a vast array of colours. Our homes always had cut flowers.

In summer our great-grandfather grew massed carnations for Gran’s flower bowl and in the cooler months equally massed poppies. We spent hours creating a half-sphere in a silver bowl that sat in the middle of Gran’s dining table. 

Nothing came from the shop. The abundance of fruit and vegetables seemed never ending, changing from season to season and what we didn’t grow was often a swap with other gardening families. The Million Dollar peaches OMG I still remember the taste. Our mother Fay would always grow summer corn, pick it, cook it and we ate it thirty minutes later slathered in butter. Such heaven, we took it for granted, and it was only years later that we truly appreciated how lucky we had been. In that luck our flavour profiles had been formed and in an effort to get the very best quality for my restaurant kitchen the grower’s hall at the Wholesale Produce Market became the solution. Initially in the East End Wholesale Markets Adelaide and later at the Pooraka Produce Market. Sadly today those old fellas who brought me bounty from their home gardens have long since been pushed out by global tasteless produce. 

A lot of my early years were spent with my great-grandparents and grandparents and summer school holidays were spent with paternal grandparents who lived in Queenscliff, Victoria. Everyone grew food and grew flowers and at Queenscliff we fished and ran wild.

Food and flowers we grew ourselves were just an accepted part of life.

In Septembers my maternal grandmother presided over the Monopoly Wars…..a serious fight with the cuzzes. We were mainly outside in the garden oblivious to the beauties of spring. It was a magical free-range childhood, of the like few children get to experience today.

THERE IS A LITTLE BIT OF OUR MOTHER EVERYWHERE AT ALFRED STREET…THE NODDING VIOLET, SO EASY TO GROW, HATES BEING OVER WATERED AND FLOWERS FOR MONTHS.

FOR A START some of THE winter EDIBLES

MY GLORIOUS mad topsy turvy GARDEN

In 2019 I moved into Cottage Homes Alfred Street. It has been life-changing to have a stable home and best of all a large garden again. A few months after moving in when I was just starting to work on my area of the garden I awoke to demolition. The entire frontage and along the boundary fence were destroyed. .It was completely demoralising until I rationalised it was an opportunity to start from scratch.

A BLANK CANVAS.
THE MASSED PAVING IS A BIT OF A HEATSINK BUT LUCKILY IMMEDIATELY IN FRONT OF MY UNIT THE DEEP GARDEN BED IS VERY COOLING.

Faced with very limited funds choices were made to purchase quality trees and roses, start saving seeds and beg seeds and cuttings from friends who were willing collaborators. Initially along the fence by my unit, two Lisbon Lemons, one Kaffir Lime and a Tahitian Lime were planted. All have survived and flourished despite being plagued with Gall Wasp.

Getting out with a vegetable peeler and a sharp knife works well but it is a constant battle. Last year for the first time the lime tree was covered in blossom, only to have gale-force winds that resulted in not a single lime to pick. On the upside, Kaffir limes were abundant. After a couple of unfortunate mishaps with a ladder, now forbidden, I use more than my stable steps in the garden and have kept the citrus to the height of the trellis

PHOTOGRAPHY HAS ALWAYS BEEN PART OF MY PRACTICE. PUTTING MY NAME TO A SHOT LIKE THIS GIVES ME A SPECIAL KIND OF JOY.
THE FIRST TIME I HAVE EVER GROWN THESE BECAUSE I CAN GET SUCH EXCELLENT BROCCOLI FROM PATLIN GARDENS…SLOW WITH THE COLD WINTER BUT STARTING TO GET A CROP NOW.

In all 14 fruit trees have been planted in four years. The four figs were grown from cuttings and all showed the promise of fruit last year.

So, we have four figs, three Lisbon lemons, one Tahitian lime, one Kaffir lime, one white peach, one Van cherry and one curry leaf tree. Planted in the ground at the front the curry leaf tree showed its displeasure and looked like it was curling up its toes. Moved to a pot it is now gratifyingly flourishing.

Most recently planted two pomegranates [Nigel H] and there is a Ruby Pomelo  and Frangipane yet to be planted out. Also in the wings four mango trees, three to give away and one to plant. A few years ago I would not have considered this but encouraged by the success Mary and Nick Anargyros’s stunning garden [Glorious Gardens February 24] success in the frost-prone Barossa, and the fact they have been grown from seed I’m giving it a go.

Disappointingly, the two expensive Hazelnut trees [required companion planting] curled up their toes in their first summer. To be fair I was warned the climate on the plains did not suit, but the slim chance of getting fresh hazelnuts was irresistible, but a waste of funds.

MY CURRENT GREATEST SOURCE OF JOY…THE WASABI, YEAR THREE, YET TO DELIVER AND I’M RESISTING USING THE LEAVES. 
THE EXQUISITE MADAME DELBARD DIVINE SUBLTE PERFUME.
PS I LOVE YOU….STARTS WITH DEEP MAROON STRIPES AND SLOWLY TRANSFORMS TO A DUSTY DIRTY PINK.

To my astonishment given our often rocky relationship our mother requested for her ashes to be in my rose garden. Fay happily resides in a pot next to my small fish pond with a flourishing rose hilariously named ‘PS I love You’. From a single Madame Delbard, exquisitely perfumed and one of Josephine Bonepart’s roses we now have several. Last year my friend Josephine G gave me several cuttings of Nahema, the rose used in Guerlain perfumes. Happily one has survived. Other roses grown from cuttings Mr. Lincoln and the climbing Cecil Brunner. Space is becoming an issue…LOL!!

My darling friend, the late John Maroulis gave me a wonderful lesson about propagating roses with cuttings, first dipped in propagating medium and then stuck in sand. This has meant a doubling of the roses and many to give away.

There is something wonderful about sharing with gardening, and I find the memories sweet to have gifts from friends scattered through the garden.

ONE OF THE FRONT BEDS WITH LAST YEAR’S BROAD BEAN CROP, SURE IT’S TAKING THE EASY PATH BUT THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY HOURS IN THE DAY. ALSO PICTURED THE FLOURISHING UPHORBIA

I am not the oldest at Alfred Street and astonishingly my 93-year-old friend, Emily is our most avid gardeners [and a fabulous cook in the Bavarian style]. There are areas of the garden that were no longer cared for that I have taken over and ultimately made very low maintenance but still pleasing to look at.

Aggies are a weed, but a convenient one now planted across the frontage on the street side and in two front side beds. My friend Di H, gave me two Uphorbias, one has survived and Suzie M a pile of purple Salvia cuttings. The salvia is quite the showgirl and apart from chopping it back annually at the end of Autumn, it’s very low maintenance. The geraniums have recently been pulled out. Not a favourite with me I think they are at their best in Southern Italy kept contained in pots. As much as I hate to admit it at almost 77 I can no longer manage the half-acre and have had to make a few compromises

SORREL A GIFT FROM CATH K AND ROGER V…HAS TO BE NETTED THE SNAILS LOVE IT.

There is a medium-sized shade area in the middle of the front where nothing much grows. It now has excellent ground cover with the native violet, rescued flag iris and hydrangeas. My neighbour Di has some huge beautiful blue and white pots also now filled with hydrangeas. A miserable show in winter but in summer when we enjoy sitting in that part of the garden just glorious. All grown from cuttings from an ancient failing hydrangea in full sun at the back. A nuts planting but it was there when I arrived. Also at the front we have a magnificent Butterfly Tree that is an absolute showgirl in spring. Many plants have been given to neighbours in the last four years, and spending so much time in the front garden I now know most of the neighbours.

OUR BUTTERFLY TREE IN ALL ITS MAGNIFICENCE
ANGELICA SEEDLINGS SUCH A FABULOUS PLANTS…THE SEEDS ARE APPARENTLY GREAT FOR GIN…HAPPY TO TRADE FOR GIN IF THERE ARE ANY TAKERS.
THE COLD WINTER HAS MEANT THE LEEKS HAVE BEEN SLOW TO GROW AND TIRED OF WAITING FOR THEM TO THICKEN WE’VE STARTED EATING THEM.
THE CURRY LEAF TREE NOW FLOURISHING IN A POT.
THE ARUM LILIES WERE EXISTING AND WHILST I LOVE THEIR ELEGANCE, ESPECIALLY FOR CUT FLOWERS, THEY TAKE SOME CONTROLLING. A FEW OF THE SPECTACULAR GODESS LILIES ARE SCATERED AROUND.
THE NATIVE VIOLET FROM A SINGLE PURCHASE IS JUST ABOUT EVERHWERE. A TERRIFIC GROUND COVER I ALSO LOVE TO PUT THEM ON CAKES.

a
garden
can
mend
your
head

There have been a number of times in my life where a garden has restored me, made me feel life was worth living. Post closing Mistress Ausgustine’s restoring the garden at Osmond Terrace with the enormous help of Mark D and Fiona P made me understand life moves on. It made me understand when you fail at life you have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get on with it.

I love that diners have always commented on the rpoduce we use. Fellow gardeners on a commercial scale Patlin Gardens and The Food Forest have for eons embellished my cooking. What is most important is that we share a belief in seasonailty, produce grown organically, whether they are NASA approved or just a fundamental philosophy. Both of these fantastic gardens will be featured later this year.

I believe that a chef who desn’t understand the seasons, who doesn’t grow things, who doesn’t have close relationships with their suppliers is never going to put perfection on their plates.

A RISKY AND EXPENSIVE PURCHASE THE GARDENIA HAS BEEN A GREAT SOURCE OF JOY AND AMAZEMENT FOR TWO YEARS. FROST BLANKETS HAVE HELPED IT THROUGH THESE FREEZING NIGHTS…BUT IT’S COVERED IN BUDS WITH THE PROMISE OF ABUNDANCE.

"

ALICE B TOKLAS

BEFORE COOKING
COMMENCES
MURDER IS
INEVITABLE

I always think that gardening has some similarities to cooking. A good gardener learns that death is sometimes inevitable and that not everything you plant will flourish. Our mother would decide on a 40°C day that a rose was failing in the spot she had placed it, dig it up and move it. Astonishingly death was infrequent in her garden, but is more common in mine. AO

THE SECOND WAVE OF SPRING PEAS STARTING TO CLIMB, STRAWBERRIES READY TO PLANT OUT, A PINEAPPLE THAT SEEMS TO HAVE SURVIVED WINTER AND UNDERNEATH THAT SEAWEED ASPARAGUS CROWNS A GIFT FROM THE ROCKFORD KNRONDÖRF GARDEN. THE SECOND YEAR SO FINGERS CROSSED.

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