Gardener interviews/Sarah

Demographics
Age:


 * 30-55

Gender: female

Where do you live? (general area ok) St Kilda (inner suburb of Melbourne)

Do you live in a house, flat, ??? Flat

Do you rent or own? own

Your garden
Tell me about your garden?


 * top floor flat, garden on balcony, rectangular garden twice the size of the table we're at (1.5 x 3.5m). container garden -- lots of pots. grows: (currently) lots of tomatoes, spinach, rocket, parsley, basil, mint. more successful with spinach in winter.  previously had chilli peppers (wants to get another chilli plant).  Lots of greens -- lettuces, mizumi, salad greens, etc.

How long have you been growing food?


 * only really got into it in 2 years that she's started to try and make her balcony into a source of food. when she moved in the previous people left non-edible plants in pots which she wants to get rid of.  before this flat: always sort of dabbled, mum was a great gardener, always grew up around it but never been serious/successful.

Why do you grow your own food? What do you like best about it?


 * doesn't like going shopping, likes to go outside and pick her own food, to make something and taste it fresh. sometimes it's also a financial consideration.  i think it's a good sustainable lifestyle option.

Do you buy fruit/veg other places? where from?


 * at the moment, South Melb market or Prahran market or the local IGA (independent grocery). I used to get an organic box delivered for about 3 years, stopped when became unemployed.

Do you garden with anyone else/does anyone help you with the garden?


 * no (cat tries to destroy it!)

Do you know how much you spend on your garden? Supplies, seeds, plants, etc?


 * don't really have a sense of how much. not enough!  i need new compost and stuff.  "obsessive composter" but can't do it in the flat.  used to have a bokashi bucket, but couldn't handle the volume of her scraps, too many flies/insects/etc.  Pots were just accumulated over the years.  Seeds/seedlings: some bought from farmers market, sometimes people give me some -- daughter gives me seedlings (tomato plants etc).  doesn't seed swap/save.

Where do you buy garden supplies etc?


 * seeds/seedlings from farmers market, seeds from a hardware store (spinach and rocket, big commercial brand)

Where do you get information/help about gardening?


 * pretty random... just google it, Indira Naidoo's balcony garden book. haven't found any websites that she uses regularly.

What are the *best* sources of information?


 * couldn't say

Do any of your family members or close friends have veggie gardens?


 * daughter's boyfriend has a big veg garden in the country, mum's a big gardener (lives in England, has a container garden now, has always been in horticultural societies and enters shows, puts lots of energy and care into her gardening)

Do you keep a garden journal or otherwise keep track of what you plant? Tell us about it.


 * has a Yates gardening guide, makes notes (or planning to) in there about successful/unsuccessful crops, what to buy again. Otherwise: had plans to keep a journal/write a book about it, but Indira Naidoo beat her to it.  And now doesn't have the time.

Online behaviour
Do you use any gardening websites?


 * no

What do you like best about them?

What do you dislike about them?

Do you use social networks? Which?


 * Facebook (with a small group of people), Twitter (not much), Instagram

Do you talk about your veggie garden on social networks? Why or why not?


 * posted a pic on instagram/facebook, because one of her tomatoes had a big chunk bitten out of it. people were suggesting a bird did it.

Do you pay for any online services/subscriptions? Which and how much?


 * no

For each service, what makes it worth paying for?

Other
Are you involved in any community groups or organisations related to gardening?


 * hovered around the edges of the Port Philip ecocentre

Anything else:


 * when i decided to turn my balcony into a food source, i had quite grand visions, and i initially contacted a consultant who helps you set up those things. i was thinking of getting an irrigation system.

Would you like to receive our newsletter?


 * yes, added