3. Good Organic Gardening - May-June 2016 AvxHome.in

Ripe dragonfruit in Emil’s garden
Here comes the sun
Until recently, a large proportion of the
backyard had been shaded by a neighbour’s
enormous eucalypt, preventing cultivation.
However, the tree was old and posed a threat
to the neighbour’s house so it had to be
chopped down.
As Emil admits, “It was sad to see the tree
go; it must have been over a hundred years
old. It was so big it shaded four properties, so
we couldn’t grow much in its shade — and
now there is all this light!”
Elderberry has thrived in the shade and
the chickens just love the berries. Emil
laughs, “They eat it until their poo turns
blue!” The elderberry has taken over the
once-shaded backyard, its saplings sprouting
everywhere. Emil cuts them and uses them
Emil loves his chickens
Elder flowers
The boys also planted
a soursop tree, an
amazing plant that’s
come under rigorous
scientific investigation
for its medicinal and
anti-carcinogenic
properties.
as mulch when they get out of hand. He
and Katrina add that it’s possible to make
refreshing beverages and cough syrups from
both berries and flowers.
In the newly sunny backyard, Emil has
planted an avocado tree. “Avocados don’t
like to have wet feet,” he says. “So I don’t
overwater it in the clay soil.”
Emil fertilises his fruit trees and garden
with Seasol, worm castings and compost,
adding dolomite, as calcium is needed for
flowering. He incorporates these into the soil
or around trees two months before flowering.
Then he waters the soil once a week and
covers it with sugarcane mulch.
Living sustainably
Sustainability is something Emil feels
passionate about. “I’ve always desired to
have a green, sustainable lifestyle. So when
our hot water system broke, we jumped at
the idea of installing a solar heating system.
This was at least 20 years ago and we were
perhaps one of the first families in Holland
Park to have it. Now we also have 12 solar
Bananas
panels to offset our electricity costs.”
Emil has set up a greywater system to
divert shower and bath water onto the
garden and fruit trees. The family is rigorous
about using mostly eco-friendly and natural
products and uses rainwater for drinking and
watering the garden.
Emil also has a worm farm and a compost
bin, so food scraps are shared between them,
the chooks and the female brush-tail possum
and her offspring, which sleep in a nesting
box he built high up in the mango tree. Every
evening, Emil goes down to feed the possum
and her baby; they feel comfortable with him
and at home in his garden. When there’s an
abundance of mangoes, papayas and palm
berries, the possums, flying foxes and birds
flock to Emil’s fruitful feast.
Most of what is growing in the garden,
including the many papaya trees, is selfsown.
Emil also allows weeds to come up
and doesn’t spend much time weeding
the garden, as he later uses the weeds
as mulch.
Neither does he mind the insects that
find a habitat in the garden: “I feed the
grasshoppers to the chickens, which they
love. Whenever I plant any vegies from the
cabbage family, caterpillars soon decimate
them. However, I don’t mind this as I know
they will become butterflies.”
Emil usually uses an eco-friendly oil and
soap spray to deter citrus stinkbugs, as he
loves his citrus fruit. He adds, “Lemon is
the only citrus fruit that can be eaten in
its entirety, including the skin. When
blended and consumed, a lemon a day
keeps the doctor away. Lemons are truly
a preventive medicine.”
Good Organic Gardening | 27