Gardener interviews/Victoria

Demographics
Age:


 * 30-55

Gender: female

Where do you live? (general area ok) Melbourne, inner east

Do you live in a house, flat, ??? semi-detached house

Do you rent or own? own

Your garden
Tell me about your garden?


 * north facing, along the side fence, about 4m x 1.4m. No-dig/raised garden, aerobin (compost bin, 400L).  Haven't got into winter vegies yet, might go to CERES this weekend and see what happens. At present: cucumbers, squash, potatoes, beans, kaffir lime tree, tomatoes just finished, cos lettuce, spring onions, sage, mint, parsley, basil, marigolds, calendula. Split into three beds, using hardware to raise beds to different heights.  One is all mixed up: herbs, spring onions, lettuce, flowers, kind of random.  Winter vegetables never do very well, brassicas never work/get eaten.  Beans growing up ad-hoc bamboo trellis, in potato patch now potatoes are finished, hoping beans will put some nitrogen back in.  I know i should rotate my crops but one corner has lots of shade so it's harder to do.  The tomatoes I tend to swap around.  Olive tree, lemon tree, bay tree.


 * another bed on the other side, mostly an experiement for hte kids.


 * also dwarf citrus (lemon and orange) in pots


 * Tried raising from seed a few years ago, spent a lot of effort, but snails ate everything anyway. Don't do that any more.  So now I mostly buy seedlings.

How long have you been growing food?


 * Between 14-20 years, but not sure exactly, since i moved into this house.

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


 * i get a huge amount of satisfaction from being able to serve food that i've grown. it's difficult to say why i love it so much. it's nice to know what you're eating, but that's not really it, I don't think.  I like spending time in the garden and I much prefer to have some thing productive than something decorative, just like i prefer to read non-fiction than fiction.  Smells nice.

Do you buy fruit/veg from other places? Where? Why do you shop there?


 * I have these political ideas that go out the window for the sake of convenience. I do get a weekly box, which my husband organised.  I'm not sure if it's all organics -- I hope it is.  It's never enough and doesn't lst the week, not enough fruit for hte kids.  I try to shop at the local greengrocer but the only place I can get small appels for kids lunch is Coles, so I sell my soul for that.  I tend not to go to Vic market because it's not local enough/too hard with kids.  I used to shop at Oakleigh but the quality was a bit ordinary and everything too large.  I prefer to not get the box because although there's kind of a thrill of serendipity, the kids won't eat zucchini.  I tend towards organics but don't always get them.

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


 * Husband loves doing chopping and mulching and composting, mowing lawn etc, has bought mulcher etc. My daughter (7) grew some sunflowers and we harvested seeds.  And she sprinkled in some random flower mix.  Kids get excited about the growing veg.  They like to eat things from the garden, find it thrilling, they like the butterflies and ladybirds.  Son (10) is less into it.

Where do you buy garden supplies etc?


 * Preference: CERES, because i know whatever they have on offer is good, won't flog stuff that's out of season, and they have a good range, and I like to support them. But they're not close to me. I do it when I've got time.  There's a place round the corner but it's overpriced, their soul is not really in the right place.  Penhalluriaks is good, on the way to a daughter's thing, so go there sometimes.  Guy who runs it is a bit of a legend because of Sunday trading or something.

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


 * Not really. I know I spend way more than I get back in terms of produce, because eg. I put dynamic lifter on it or whatever, or fork out for nice pots or something. It's not really about the money for me though.  I think of it as a hobby/entertainment.

Where do you get information/help about gardening? Which sources are most useful?


 * Mixture: I love those books that are like the old moosewood garden cookbooks, or like Jackie French, where it's about seasonal food and recipes and tells you about the vegetables. I'm a bit of a make it up as you go along person.  i look things up on the internet.  I have a garden app.  If I'm not sure when to plant something, I look it up on the internet or on the app.  Dirty Deeds on RRR, Sunday 1pm.

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


 * No, the only thing I remember from my childhood in Adelaide was lots of fruit trees, everywhere we lived. There was an insurance guy came to spy on a neighbour and while he was in our garden, he dug out a vegie garden to make it look like he was doing something, so we had a patch for a while.

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


 * no

If no: Would you consider keeping a garden journal? What might inspire or motivate you to do so?


 * the only reason i might do it is if I was seriously getting productive, but I dont' do it to survive, i do it as a hobby. but if the kids moved out of home and I pulled down the trampoline, i'd have vegies all over the front garden. taht woudl mean i could live off it better, then it would be worth journalling so I could learn from my mistakes. but as it is, it's not htat critical.

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


 * Facebook group -- Monash Area Shared produce group, started by a friend. Already I've swapped some bay leaves and kaffir lime and mint leaves, for a loaf of zucchini bread.

Online behaviour
Do you have high-speed Internet at home? What do you mostly use it for?


 * Yes, mostly used for running a business and working from home. Obviously i'm on facebook.  I use the internet for everything.  Booking tickets, doing research, and I'm into heaps of stuff, so my history would be pretty random.

Do you have a smart phone? What kind? What do you mostly use it for?


 * iPhone 4, sync with computer for calendar/address/etc, general internet, internet banking, Gardenate, used to have a Yates app(?), Facebook, evernote, games sometimes (words with friends), read news, listen to radio and my own music.

Do you use social networks? Which? What for? How much time do you spend?


 * facebook, twitter, used to be on instagram and pinterest but gave up

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


 * yes -- facebook group as above. took a photo of my new potato crop and posted on facebook. posted photo of salad made with ingredients from garden.  Why?  Because it shows the world how capable and clever I am.  It reflects a part of me that says I give a shit about the earth.

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


 * Yes: project management (for work), spotify ($7/month), premium evernote, will buy apps on phone. I don't really care if they cost money -- I prefer to avoid ads. I hate playing money for games, although I did buy Myst. Might pay up to $5 for something useful, even up to $60 if I really want it.

Do you use any gardening websites or apps? For instance garden planners, trackers, planting guides/reminders, forums, or wikis/encyclopedias of plants?


 * Gardenate (iphone app). Doesn't really Google for help.  I'm intuitive enough I can usually figure stuff out.

What do you like best about them?


 * (Gardenate) The problem with the internet is that it's hard finding information from the local area, and Gardenate responds to that: It knows I live in Melbourne and knows what my climate is like. It's good for me to keep a step ahead of what I'm going to be planting.

What do you dislike about them?


 * I don't know it well enough.

Growstuff
We're building a website for food gardeners. It's called Growstuff. It's free to use. It lets you:


 * track what you're growing (like a garden journal)
 * post updates and pictures of your garden and share them via social networks
 * research and learn about things to grow, how to grow things, get help with problems, etc
 * see what other people in your local area are growing/talking about, and connect with the local community
 * swap/trade (or potentially buy/sell) produce, seeds, gardening supplies, etc from people near you

Does any part of this it sounds interesting or useful to you?


 * Really into local community stuff and food trading. I don't nkow if there are taht many intensive gardeners in my area, but I do have some neighbours getting into it.  Maybe there'll be a bit of healthy competition!


 * The other thing I would love: I want to find heirloom stuff more easily.

We're also thinking of offering a paid upgrade to provide premium features. These might include things like:


 * managing multiple gardens
 * sharing your garden with co-gardeners
 * planning future garden activities and setting reminders

Do any of those features sounded interesting to you?


 * In theory, vaguely. What I'd really love is if we did have a community garden plot in our area.  I think the nearest is in Ashburton, but hte land is so expensive.


 * Paid upgrades: I like the idea of the reminder thing. My ADHD mind doesn't work for that.  It's not something I'd put in my regualr calendar, but if it were specifically for gardening it would make sense.

Would you consider paying for an account to get those features?


 * I don't know. I'd consider it.

How much do you think would be a reasonable price? (Feel free to compare to other online services, if it helps you think about what are normal sorts of prices.)

Growstuff works towards social good in a number of ways. For instance:


 * we choose ethical and sustainable providers wherever possible
 * we'll offer free accounts to non-profits/community gardens
 * we make an effort to be accessible and inclusive to all, to respect our members' privacy and self-identity, and to always act ethically in the way we run our online service
 * our software is developed in a collaborative model, working closely with our community
 * we mentor volunteers who want to learn how to code, especially women and people from non-traditional IT backgrounds
 * our software is released under an open source license, meaning greater transparency and trust between us and our community
 * the aggregate data we gather from members is provided under a free/open license for people who are researching or building other tools for food gardeners

Knowing this, how do you feel about that?


 * I'd be surprised to find an org doing this kind of thing for an ulterior motive, so it doesn't surprise me. It's nice to hear.

Would you be more or less likely to pay for a premium account on Growstuff?


 * I often support Pozible projects because they help make this city the type of city I want to live in. So even if I don't get a physical reward or can't make it on the day of the event, I'll still support it because I believe in it.

Does this change the amount you'd be willing to pay?


 * Depending on the project, I usually would contribute between $40-$100 to crowdfunding projects, depending how it's structured.

Other
Anything else you'd like to tell us that we didn't cover in the questions?


 * Asked us why we started the business, our motivations.

Would you like to receive our newsletter? (fortnightly, gives updates on our progress and will tell you when Growstuff is launched)


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