About

WARNING! … Vegetable Gardening Can Be Addictive And Will Improve Your Health.

When I drive through our neighbouring suburbs I wonder why so few people have a vegetable garden.

If only they knew how much pleasure and satisfaction there was to be gained from creating your own garden.

In this day and age of ever increasing costs there are substantial savings and health benefits to be had from “growing your own”.

The days of rushing to the supermarket when you want to rustle up a quick salad or coleslaw can now be a thing of the past. Has to be good for the environment as well as one’s stress level.

The motivation for this blog is to share my experiences, knowledge and insights with not only established gardeners but those who may be considering a garden for the first time.

Due to the current recession statistics show that worldwide ever increasing numbers of people are turning their hand to growing their own and rediscovering the past joys of vegetable gardening.

This trend has to be great news for the health of New Zealanders and the garden industry when so many others are struggling and losing ground. (no pun intended)

What are you waiting for there’s never been a better time to start your own garden.

This photo was taken as I cut the first lettuce from our new garden. My youngest son Fraser who took the photo was in stitches due the supposed affection I was displaying to a garden vegetable of all things.

first-lettucewm

A little about Rodney Dunn the gardener.

“Gardeners don’t die they just spade away”

I don’t know who said this but it aptly applies to my current situation.

It’s meant to read “old gardeners” but I took the “old” off as that doesn’t apply yet!

Yes so I’m losing a “little” hair and my family shout at me to “go get a hearin aid” but other than that my faculties are fine and dandy … enough said!

I grew up on a farm in a part of rural New Zealand called the King Country so it was inevitable that I would inherit a passion for nature and the great outdoors. For as long as I can remember my parents had a great big veggie garden because that’s just what folk did those days. Unlike today there was no supermarket down the street or just around the corner.

In the mid 1970s whilst in my late teens I moved to Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city and in 1997 we moved into our current property.

Our 1¼ acre lifestyle block is situated on the southern fringes of the city. It was just a wasteland when we purchased it in 1996 and we cleared away gorse, wild blackberries and other rubbish to establish a building site.

Once the house was built we set about draining swamps, landscaping and planting (approx 300 trees) to create our own piece of paradise. After many long hours and much blood sweat and tears it’s now 95% complete and we are delighted with the end result.

I am married to Rose and we have 3 adult children living at home. We must be doing some thing right as they all still live at home and seem to be in no hurry to leave,

My interests include: