Many of us can only dream of being self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables but for avid gardener, Artha Holmes, this dream is a daily reality.
Canadian-born Artha says his interest in growing things is probably genetic, as his aunt had a beautiful vegetable garden and so did his grandfather, who was also a farmer.
“I have a strong childhood connection to the land and clearly remember my mother kneeling on the soil to plant flowers as soon as spring arrived in central Canada,” Artha says.
“I left Canada in my late teens to go travelling and lived in several countries before coming to Australia and the first thing I do when I move somewhere is start a garden.”
Artha’s first job after moving to Australia was as a gardener at Kings Park. He later worked in an orchard and in various other jobs that enabled him to keep his hands in contact with the soil.
A walk through Artha’s current garden and orchard, situated near the Great Southern’s beautiful William Bay, is like walking down the aisles of a farmer’s market as every edible thing you can imagine is on offer.
Depending on the season, the orchard produces apricots, apples, figs, oranges, lemons, limes, guavas, kumquats, tamarillos, macadamias and feijoas. And, in the veggie garden, there’ll be tomatoes, carrots, beetroot, onions, kale, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, potatoes, lettuce, artichokes, broad beans, bok choy and snow peas. And let’s not forget the flavoursome additions of mint, basil, ginger, garlic, chillies, parsley and turmeric with a list that goes on and on.
You may think that growing so many varieties of food would cost a fortune in seeds, seedlings and nutritional additives but that’s not the case. Artha’s garden is self-sufficient in those elements too as seedlings are propagated in a greenhouse that he and his partner built themselves using bricks made from clay found on the property.
For Artha, creating a sustainable garden also means growing organically.
“I never use chemicals – no matter what. Instead, I plant in abundance to cover any losses due to pests and I protect small seedlings with individual barriers until they’re big enough to survive the occasional pest attack. I’ve also learnt a lot about companion-planting as a way of reducing pests.”
Artha uses permaculture techniques and does a lot of composting and rotational planting in his patch. It’s also interesting to note that while there are some neat and tidy plant rows, the majority of the garden grows in a free-form style and Artha actually prefers the garden to be as wild as possible.
But this doesn’t mean that the garden lacks planning, as Artha is a big believer in planting in harmony with the seasons and says that while he does consult planting guides and moon charts he also plants using his intuition as a guide.
The result is an abundant veggie garden that is beautifully delicious.
