This was published 7 years ago
Kitchen garden: Tom Baker's Queanbeyan garden and why Landcare starts at home
By Susan Parsons
Tom Baker says, "Landcare starts at home" and when he opened his garden in Queanbeyan last year for Open Gardens Canberra, hundreds of visitors came to see and hear what he has done to achieve sustainability on a home block.
In 2014 Tom received an Order of Australia for 30 plus years of service to the environment, including as landcare and catchment volunteer. He has also been a Councillor, "long suffering" committee person, radio Landcare Coordinator (2XX Canberra, 98.3FM from 9am Tuesdays) and environmental activist.
Cucumbers, warrigal greens and boysenberries. Credit: Jamila Toderas
As a boy in Tumut, Tom and his father collected horse manure from nearby horse stables. He says this magic helped him to grow good water melons when he was about nine years old and that gave him confidence to grow. Studying horticulture at CIT in Weston "kept me sane" while working as a public servant and it was gardening the led him to conservation.
When he moved to Queanbeyan in 1979 there were only a few Isabella grape vines, weedy shrubs and lawn. Now the garden is a haven of productivity and densely planted beauty. Beds were developed using compost from bins and compost beds and mulch and, with cat litter and the neighbours' lawn clippings, in sunny areas this has accumulated to form elevated vegetable beds.
Tom Baker in his garden while holding some Corsican mint. Credit: Jamila Toderas
Water is conserved on site with tanks and, by replacing lawns with pavers, rain is able to seep through the pavers and run into garden beds and ground-sinks recharge the groundwater. Tom says development of backyard zones of clustered vegetation provide great refuge and haven for small birds and it becomes a delight to the homeowners.
Worm farms are used for all kitchen organic material, including a daily bucket of kitchen sink "rinsings" which Tom demonstrated by pouring it all into a worm farm and showing how the nutrient rich liquid pours out of a spout into a collection bucket.
A bay tree is six metres tall and growing rapidly and branches of leaves are used in the kitchen.
Staple ingredients from the garden which are harvested every evening include rumex (red sorrel and docks), silver beet and Warrigal greens which are running rampant around a tub of recently planted cucumbers.
The main vegie bed is dominated by a crop of climbing peas, spring onions, parsnips, parsley and celery which he finds very easy to grow despite contrary advice often given to home gardeners.
A variety of herbs tempt passersby to touch and bruise various leaves then sniff the fingers. These include silvery curry plant (Helichrysum italicum not the true curry leaves Murraya koenigii) and, new to me, the tiny mat-forming Corsican mint which is used to flavour creme de menthe.
The garden hides three grape vines, a quince tree, a cumquat, lime and a lemon tree near the back ramp leading up to the kitchen door. This writer was sent home with four enormous lemons and the smallest, weighed by my neighbour, was 444 grams. They were full of juice. There is a spreading fig tree in a sunny spot beside the driveway and side fence and it is currently bearing its first crop for the season.
Fruit bats visit a large loquat tree which protects two Nelly Kelly passionfruit vines. These produce ripe fruit from February to August and during that past six month period Tom harvested about 900 passionfruit.
The beautiful shiny trunk of a large seedling cherry tree takes the eye to a crop of small fruit which is preserved in jars. Berries are growing along the back fence and the boysenberries produce three good pickings, most of which is preserved for desserts, cakes and presents.
Tom has also owned a five-acre block on the Captains Flat Road for 28 years. It is devoted to the environment. The block gardens, mainly rabbit-proof fenced are devoted to hardy winter crops of broccoli, cabbages, parsnips, rhubarb, mustard and early spring asparagus. Summer crops include tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, beans, strawberries and corn, if time and water allow.
Berries, fruit trees and vines are established there but are plundered by birds and possums so Tom and his partner have a netting program underway. The best deterrent is constant cropping.
In his home garden, Tom is raising dozens of Hungarian tomato seedlings, a variety originally brought in from Germany, which has proved to be disease-resistant. These are planted on the rural block and Tom's partner, an excellent cook, preserves them for year-round use. Just-harvested asparagus, shallots and spinach are being used with meat and fish dishes and tasty curries, including red lentil-based dishes. Rhubarb and apple crumbles and apple strudels are on top of the charts at the moment.
A special time is dinner eaten on the deck of the little hut on the country block, overlooking the Molonglo River, with a glass of red wine in hand to accompany a barbecued steak with fresh, just harvested vegetables.
Susan Parsons is a Canberra writer.