SERIES 36 | Episode 33
We meet Mara Ripani, who feels she has found her dream home on a 15-acre property in Central Victoria, where she shares her Italian heritage through kitchen workshops and using produce from the garden.
Mara and her family came to Australia from the east coast of Italy and her background shapes the food she cooks, how she welcomes people to her home and of course the name of the property – Orto, which means kitchen garden in Italian. She and partner Ralph now have two daughters of their own and new traditions are being made.
She watched her own parents growing food and gardening and has built on that knowledge herself since leaving home. There are tussock grasses and Mediterranean plants immediately around the house in what she calls the bee garden, but beyond that edible plants take centre stage.
Mara says she loves mixing edible greens with edible flowers, so there is plenty of colour in the food garden too. Sunflowers and cornflowers grow alongside kale and brassicas and Asian greens. The diversity means there’s less need for a rotation system to keep the soil and plants healthy.
A lot of compost is added too, either brought in or from green manure.
A berry area grows all types of berries including currants, and a feijoa hedge runs alongside this patch – even the petals are edible.
Asparagus was grown from seed and now fills a 30-metre bed.
Another large area is planted in repeated rows of sunflowers (to give away), peas and potatoes (for eating), plus rye grain for milling.
In the orchard are nashi pears, plums, apricots, and cherries. Some is eaten fresh but a lot is preserved to carry through to the next season.
Each rental garden where she lived in Melbourne helped her learn a bit more about growing and different plants, and she’s tapped into every source of knowledge she could find along the way. She loves now having the space to put all her ideas together.
There is also a wetland for habitat, deliberately designed not to be a dam – instead there is a shallow edge that is perfect for herbs and water plants, including water ribbons. The bee garden by the house also doubles as a source of cut flowers for the house and for wreath-making courses that she runs.
A huge cool room is the perfect place for storing preserves, including stocks, jams, compotes, ferments, pickles, homemade soap, and plaits of dried garlic.
“This garden is my dream come true,” she says.
Featured Plants FEIJOAFeijoa sellowianaASPARAGUSAsparagus officinalis *CHERRYPrunus cv.COMMON WATER-RIBBONSCycnogeton procerus syn. Triglochin procera* Check before planting: this may be an environmental weed in your area
Filmed on Dja Dja Wurrung Country | Blampied, Vic
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