My gardening journey began three decades ago in High School when I enrolled in the newly developed subject of horticulture. It was to be my ‘easy’ subject, a break from the weight of the academic burden of senior schooling. Little did I know that it was just the match to spark my natural interest in gardening, which had been dormant since childhood. I credit my Uncle Stephen with initiating that interest through the beautiful garden he created in my Oma and Opa’s backyard in Wynnum. As a child, it was my favourite place to be during our weekly Sunday visits. I would run down the back stairs, pausing briefly to acknowledge the Dietes Bicolour plant that grew at their foot, then dash into the backyard to explore further. I would peer into the fish pond, collect macadamia nuts, and stroll along the rainforest path, pretending I was in an adventure story. I would pick the flowers and enjoy the luxuriant green lawn. Along with my Oma’s famous chicken noodle soup and her spekulaas biscuits, the garden was a highlight of my childhood memories.

Fast forward to my high school graduation, and I walked across the stage to collect my Dux in Horticulture. There was good-natured laughter as the award was read out, as my surname at the time was Plant. It was obviously meant to be 😊. I was an academic student, so when I graduated school, I was persuaded to enrol in a Bachelor of Horticultural Science. I never ended up doing it. I like science and the scientific method. I like knowing how and why things work, but wasn’t interested in being in a lab coat. I wasn’t interested in having an academic career. I just wanted to garden, beautify spaces, and learn to be self-sufficient.

I never stopped gardening, though, teaching myself through trial and error. There was another moment of illumination when I discovered the idea of permaculture through Linda Woodrow’s book, The Permaculture Home Garden. This was the type of food growing that I wanted to do. It made a lot more sense to me than my Yates Garden Guide. Whereas traditional gardening advice was to poison bugs, for example, permaculture’s way was to create a healthy ecosystem where the bugs are in balance. (I am not a permaculture expert, and it is on my wish list to one day do a course and get the certification, but there are many methods that I have put into practice in my own garden. I am also interested in learning more about regenerative agriculture and using livestock to heal degraded farmland.)

After a while, I began to realise that in the same way that my Uncle Stephen was the ‘plant guy’ who you could ask for advice, I was starting to become that person for my family and friends. And I thought that perhaps I, too, could help people in the early stages of their gardening journey. I created The Pantry Gardener to source all the information I had accumulated over the years in one convenient spot. There is always more to learn, more to read and more gardening experiments to do. As I gain that knowledge, I can share it with you so you don’t have to wade through thirty years of trial and error like I did.

Gardening is not just a source of food and security but of mental well-being and physical health. I hope you enjoy your journey as much as I have and continue to do so.