Gardening

“I held her underwater until I knew she was dead”  said a woman.  The rest of us nod, squirreling away this method as a future possibility.

I am among mothers congregating at the school gate, waiting for the bell.  We look like the type of congregating mothers who give congregating mothers a bad name.  The gutter stretching behind us is littered with abandoned 4WDs - doors resting open - some pregnant with healthy prams.  A toddler, resigned to boring talk at this time of day, is spinning inconveniently on the footpath. 

Another woman presses for more detail - keen to know if there was a struggle before drowning.  No, she was weak from disease.  Our voices jockey to make the next disclosure of killing.

Continue reading "How to murder a chicken and other poultry facts" »

Several years ago scientist David Suzuki observed that humans have an innate need to be connected with nature, even if it’s only a nearby park or a tree in the backyard.

Australians, who have always expressed nature as part of their national identity, are manifesting this observation more than ever before.

In a recent study looking at a range of social issues related to modern living a surprisingly high number of participants reported growing their own vegetables or herbs at home.

Continue reading "Why ‘growing your own’ is growing" »

There’s a quiet revolution going on in the suburban backyards of Australia. 

Rather than sitting back and admiring our perfectly manicured “outside rooms”, gazing lovingly at our mondo grass, perfectly coiffed hedges of murraya, buxus or newly acquired rows of trendy agaves, we are choosing to head outside armed with buckets of kitchen scraps, water collected from baths and showers while we attempt to figure out where we should build a chicken coop, locate the veggie patch, compost heap and herb garden. 

Suffering a slow death (and not for lack of water) is the passive, over-structured garden.  Instead we are rediscovering how much fun it is to actually interact with Mother Nature and the vital lessons she has to impart to us and our children about nourishing ourselves and our environment.

Continue reading "Chooks and chokos are more fun than mondo grass" »