From Russia with Love.

Andrey and Irina  were on a round Australian trip in their caravan when they arrived in Geraldton two years ago. They stayed here and bought in Geraldton  The house needed a lot of work and the young couple set about doing that. 

Andrey's Veggie patch

We met them on a wet afternoon and asked them what they had in mind for the future of their place in Geraldton. Turns out Andrey was a fan of the Anastasia books and understood the concept of Dachas or home gardens which had always been common in certain parts of the Russian country side. Their shared vision was to create a sustainable garden once the renovations were complete.

We met the pet Galah, Gertrusia, inside and they showed us the tricks he (or she) was taught.

“Does he understand Russian?” I asked.

“No!” Irina explained. “He follows the movement of my fingers and is rewarded each time with food. That is how we do it. He doesn’t understand Russian” she laughed.

Irina's pet pink and grey Galah

 

 

Outside Andrey showed us the English rabbits he is breeding while the geese and ducks paraded around. He remembers as a kid in Russia how the grandparents all kept rabbits and ducks for food and raised veggie gardens and this spurred him and Arina on to try and develop that lifestyle here in Western Australia. In parts of Europe today and in Russia after the collapse of the USSR there were hard times and food was short. 

Large English rabbit

 

The small gardens helped people through these periods. Andrey said his home country of Uzbekistan was a similar climate to Geraldton (without the wind) but the soil was very different! Arina hails from Vladivostok which is a long way from Uzbekistan, and she said it is very cold with wind. It is seven days by train to Moscow and eight hours by plane whereas Sydney is seven hours from there.

Andrey has planted mulberries, grape vines to form a trellis for fruit and shade, fruit trees including mangoes and mulberries. He showed me the veggie garden, corn growing for animal feed and spoke of the future where the whole yard would be an orchard and a place to call home.

We left wishing them well in their dream of creating an ecological and sustainable garden inside their back yard in suburbia.

Geese and Muscovy duck.

 

I was glad to meet up later with my mate Bob and share with him what I had seen, although he was fairly blasé about my constant rhetoric on the theme of sustainability.

“What happens when all the bugs turn up and eat everything like they do every year?” he asked.

“You have a good point,” I replied. “Even now the green caterpillars are coming onto the cabbages and broccoli and I have seen aphids on the beans the other day. But until a balanced eco system is in place we are going to have to spray.”

“Thought you greenies were against spraying?” he said.

“We are, but there are sprays we are going to have to use like Dipel (Bacillus thuringiensis) which is a naturally occurring bacterium. It controls many leaf-eating caterpillars of moths and butterflies, but does not harm other insects, birds, fish or warm blooded animals. Dipel does not kill caterpillars immediately. Once a caterpillar eats treated foliage, it stops eating, but may take up to 3-4 days to die and drop from the leaf. You can mix Seasol with the spray as a wetting agent” I replied.

“That’s a mouthful, coming from you, been googling again hah? Anyway, it’s your turn to buy,” he said.

 

Hot Weather is good for Mango's.

                                                                                                                        

 Hot weather is good for Mangoes. They love it and we have plenty of that this summer of 2012. Mike of Northampton said they cover all the fruit with brown paper bags. The bottom of the bags are cut off and then slid over the fruit to form a sleeve and held by two staples at the top. This prevents the fruit from being sunburnt and scratched by branches in the wind. Quality, not quantity is their mojo here. These quality ripened mangoes are sent to Perth and our farmers markets.  This year’s crop is small so they will be marketed locally. Mangoes tend to have a big crop one year followed by a smaller one the next one or two years.

                                                                                                                                                          

I met Michael and Shirley at the Railway Station Sunday morning markets and we arranged to meet again at their small plantation on the outskirts of Northampton.  They have been there for eleven years, he grew up as a youngster on a banana plantation in Carnarvon and Shirley is from Lancashire in England. After traveling through England and India for two years they returned to W.A. and spend another two years finding this place. The farmlet is set on a gentle slope with rows of healthy mango trees on the lower part. Originally there were lots of palms, ferns and tropical plants. They removed them and replaced with native plants that flower for most of the year for the bees.  Just next to the house was a neat small gum Mike called a Citronella scented Mallee for want of a better name, as it is a gum that has naturally crossed itself with another and created a unique species.

They also grow some citrus and a crop of special garlic which has a real hot component in it. The trees and garden are watered from a bore by drip irrigation Mike said to never wet the trunk of the mango tree with the drip or watering system as it encourages rot and disease to start. (Mangos can’t handle salt water).

Animal manures and fish based fertilizer are used plus worm juice from their own worm farm. The mango fruit is very sensitive to strong feeding and will not go a golden colour on ripening if the fertilizer is too much and too rich. Mangoes ripen from the bottom up and when we see yellow spots on the bottom they are ready to pick to ripen in cool storage. No chemical insecticides are used here. They prune the mangoes a lot. They do three or four different types of pruning a year. The tops of the trees are taken down about a metre or two every year to keep down the size of the tree. Mike told us the Northampton soil is unique in that although rich it is very shallow with rock not far below the surface. Any root competition from other trees like gums robs the moisture and nutrients from the mango's.

Bees are an important part of the eco-cycle of this orchard. They have a few hives and he learnt all about bee’s years ago from a library book initially and now swaps information with other bee keepers. Honey is collected for private use and for sale. Honey chilli sauce is one of those.

After the two years in India Mike said he could not eat the boring Aussie food and set about making chilli and hot sauces to add to the preparation of their own food. They use small mango's and windfall fruit plus herbs, garlic etc in his secret recipes. Exotic spices like nigella sativa, turmeric, fennel etc are purchased from India through a Perth based importer. The jars of finished products are available at the Sunday markets along with quality mango's in season. Mike and Shirley just recently announced their retirement and their family have taken over the show with the recipes and support where necessary.

Desert Rose in Full Bloom.

The Desert Rose is a colourful addition to any garden and they have surged in popularity over the years and have been blooming prodigiously this season. Jenny at the Palm Nursery showed us the large number and variations they have for sale.