1. Good Organic Gardening - January-February 2016

Sandra & Mick Nanka | GARDENING FOLK
of the mix.” He says his father was in turn
influenced by his family in Croatia, who were
also self-sufficient. They grew much of their
fruit and veg and raised livestock for meat
and eggs.
As for Sandra, “It was my great-uncle Ossie
and great-aunt Maud, who lived in Chinchilla
not far from my grandmother’s place.” She
says they had everything growing you could
possibly imagine and in such a challenging
climate that was no mean feat.
There were mulberries, grapes,
passionfruit, chokos and trellises of sweet
peas, figs and flowers everywhere. Days
would be spent playing hide and seek in this
magical garden, always followed by Auntie
Maud’s tea, cakes, biscuits, scones and
homemade grape and fig jam.
Sandra says she always loved the thought
of turning produce from the garden into
something that would taste wonderful and
keep the memory alive when the fresh fruit
was long gone.
The patch
The first thing Sandra and Mick did when
they moved in together was create a
vegetable and herb garden. These days, there
are still vegetables and herbs but also fruiting
trees, though the most abundant harvests
are from the never-ending supply of herbs.
Sandra says their jaboticaba (also called
Brazilian grape tree) is very productive, too —
so much so that they often have to freeze a
lot of the fruit.
The garden beds are all slightly raised
because of the shale and clay-based soil
and to improve drainage, which have been
the greatest challenges. They’ve continually
added compost to improve soil structure.
Medicinal, culinary, aromatic, pest-repellent ... they’ve got it all
“Sandra always loved the thought of turning
produce from the garden into something that
would taste wonderful and keep the memory alive
when the fresh fruit was long gone.”
Large gum trees also make things difficult,
throwing shade over the garden during
winter, not to mention the water and
nutrients they draw from the soil.
The feature vegetable garden is in the
mandala style with bamboo used for edging.
There are also tank beds and an area that’s
a mix of vegies grown in rows with fruit trees
dotted in between. This particular section is
watered by the run-off from the nursery.
The Nankas harvest their own water via
their large dam and 7500-gallon tank. Other
measures they have in place to save and
recycle water are the nursery’s water-saving
sprinklers and the use of grey water to
irrigate the fruit trees.
Keeping it organic
Asked why they think growing organically
is important, they state the obvious: it’s
the right thing to do. “If you’re going to eat
the plants you’re growing, you don’t want
The Nankas’ herb nursery is vast
Good Organic Gardening | 35