An interesting story non ap that was in als site

Food&Fish

I thyought this an interesting stary from als site

This morning, after a lovely walk along Botany Bay and an almond croissant from the patisserie, we took a new way home.

I said to DH "let's go up Alice street and have a look at the horses". So we did and up Alice street, sandwiched between the creek, and two horse paddocks is a ramshackled looking garden. At the back of garden, wearing gum boots, work gear and a terry towelling hat is a man of a vintage of about 80. Out the front of the ramshackled garden are a few signs of things for sale in bottles and bags.

I said to DH "must be some sort of small market garden.... let's go and have a look!".

Worm wee, worm poo, compost mix, vege seedlings, and an array of stock are sitting under the mulberry that covers the front of the garden. Out strides a tallish man, weather beaten and smiling.

"I'm George" he says. "Would you like to come and have a look at the worlds biggest rhubarb?" being polite of course we said yes. And so we entered George's kingdom.

Prone to flooding and not used for anything (except being put aside for a proposed freeway) the council has allowed George to use this space to create an organic vege garden. George's little piece of paradise houses strawberries as big as those from QLD, potatoes, lettuce, mulberry trees, leeks, herbs, to name a few of the things growing and the biggest worm farm we have ever seen!

The council donated old recycling bins for him to use as worm farms, there is a complex drainage system set up around them, and they are all in varying stages of "production" ready for George to sell or to contribute back to his piece of paradise.

George has built this land up to take advantage of the creek overflows. He mixes his worm castings with worm poo and soil, he labels each plot with the time it should be turned, he covers with hessian bags and when ready plants his veges.

George has lots of customers coming for soil mixes, worm wee and veges and in return many of them bring their vege scraps to feed his worms. His organic soil even has the reputation of growing Bathurst's biggest tomatoes! George eats his mulberries every morning with his muesli.

DH and I spent an hour with George this morning, chatting about our garden and his, how best to keep worms, the secret to organic gardening and about his 3 daughters (all teachers) and how they teach children his secrets.

When we left, DH & I felt as rich as George's compost and it made our day. Of course, the rhubarb was the biggest we've ever seen and has set DH on a mission to achieve the same.

So today we met George, a man to aspire to being like and now a man we call a friend.