Making friends in my garden of Eden

Strawberry forever: The delights of an organic garden are shared with young and old. Picture: Frankieb

Vegetable patches can be surprisingly social places.  Ours is especially so as it is in our front garden.

These days I spend time in the mornings and evenings pottering about.  It is fun to inspect all the changes taking place.  

While I am out there, I get to wave to neighbours driving by.  It is common for our immediate neighbours to stroll over for a chat.

Even people I don’t know will slow down just to gaze at a thriving vegetable patch and wave at the resident gardener. 

People are interested in organic gardens.  One neighbour told me she loves the smell of our garden as she walks by. “It is so refreshing”, she told me this morning.

I understand what she means.  I find seeing and smelling real food growing is soothing to my soul.  Food is about our basic survival – its very presence reassures.

My favourite garden smell is the aroma of tomato and basil plants after they have been watered or picked.

Every few days over the summer, my one and a half year old neighbour comes over and together we pick and eat the strawberries.  “More strawberries!  More strawberries!” she declares with her cheeky baby grin. 

I have friends who drop by to help harvest and use the incredible silverbeet.  It is a great feeling to send someone off loaded up with fresh produce from your own garden.

It isn’t just people who are drawn to our garden.  If we are out there the cats will join us and play chasey around the garden beds.  I am grateful they are ineffective and disinterested hunters.

The native trees that form a border around the garden attract lots of birds.  I think of them as my gardening partners.  I see them fluttering about feeding on insects.  

It feels good to know there is nothing out there on the plants that will harm any anyone. 

This is especially true as a thriving organic garden, just like serving a home cooked meal, is wonderful way of drawing people together.