GETTING GREENER
Dubbo resident Brian Lees is transforming his backyard into a grow-your-own paradise, including apple, peach and cherry trees, kale and cauliflower.
True to the spirit of sustainable living, he’s also employed quite a bit of recycling too, to make it happen.
See inside today’s Dubbo Photo News for more stories and information on living sustainably in Dubbo in 2019.
"In Sydney that was our biggest problem. There’s no bees... That’s a big problem if you’ve got no means of pollinating.. "
A POT of fresh, steaming homegrown pumpkin soup simmering on the stove is what growing your own vegies in the backyard is all about.
The home of new resident from Sydney, Brian Lees, greeted Dubbo Photo News with this welcoming aroma but it was his backyard vegie patch we’d really come to see.
In the yard, the vegie patches are a flotilla of repurposed furniture pallets.
“When I moved in here, they had all these pallets lying around. They were actually a furniture pallet so they’re much bigger. I wanted to make use of them,” he said.
The boxes are brimming with lush vegie leaves producing many varieties including kale, peas and mini cauliflowers.
“I grow from seedlings. I did have a batch of seeds to start with but the frost got them. I’ve bought some of Council’s organic waste as fertiliser as well and it’s going pretty well,” he said.
He has also planted fruit trees with a little bit of trouble thanks to clay soil, but can look forward to being largely self-sufficient when the trees come into their own.
“This will be a hobby for me and I’ll definitely share the food with the family.”
Mr Lees has a younger brother living in Perth who collects his own seeds from food he grows, as well as owning a couple of bee hives.
“In Sydney that was our biggest problem. There’s no bees because the Myna birds, not the Indian Myna bird, it’s own grey Myna bird that’s taken over the nests of other birds and feeds on bees. That’s a big problem if you’ve got no means of pollinating.”
While many other Dubbo region households are also supplementing their diets with homegrown food, Mr Lees is unique and inspirational for the added repurposing of timber otherwise destined for the scrap heap.
He also admits to not growing his own food before.
“Now I’m retired I’ve got the time. Working the way I used to, which meant living away most of the time, the closest to a home cooked meal was to get it in a pub somewhere.”
Mr Lees spent most of his youth in Africa where his mother did a lot of baking for their local church.
“I had good parents. We were made to eat all our food,” he recalled.
It’s an old but, these days, important message that rings true today – discouraging food waste.
While the value of the humble backyard vegie patch is rising in stature, Mr Lees’ pet dog Abby still has other more practical ideas for his vegie boxes.
Each box is protected by hanging bottles of water to keep out the birds and the dog who fancies them as great places to bury bones!