Grown with love How to create an edible kitchen garden

AT BLACK BARN FARM IN VICTORIA, JADE MILES AND HER FAMILY ENJOY A YEAR-ROUND HARVEST FROM THEIR KITCHEN GARDEN

growing food is the single most hopeful, fulfilling, regrouping, empowering act that I undertake. It forces me to have patience – things grow as seasons pass and can’t be hurried. It soothes a busy mind – the tasks are all-consuming, so my head, heart and soul are always in the moment. It teaches lessons through incredible failures and accidental successes. There are no judgements and no rules.

The time frames are dictated by forces much bigger than me, so I am humbled by perspective, relinquish my ability to influence and simply do what I can – press my hands into the soil, feel the seeds slide through my fingers, read the seasons, revel in my observations and share my wins. It’s a solo pursuit but a deeply connecting one, too. The rewards are plentiful, even if there is not always an abundance of food produced – the lessons learned are worth the shortfall.

PLANTING HOPE

Food growing is my foundation and has been my keel for as long as I can remember. I’ve been able to grow things wherever I am, and you can, too – in a pot, in a box, on a windowsill or in a hanging basket. Planting a seed seems a simple act, but it’s actually a powerful one that rekindles a primal flame within each of us. It connects us to past knowledge and reminds us that we are a vital part of the natural world, not separate from it. I want the world my kids inherit to be vibrant, rich in opportunities, tuned in to the natural world, and both respectful and encouraging of contrasting thoughts and ideas – because diversity is the giver of life! Go on – give it a ‘grow’! >

Chives, part of the allium family that also includes spring onions, as seen in the garden below.

Her arms full of fennel and artichoke, Jade steps into the kitchen garden at the back door of the country home she shares with her husband, Charlie, and their children Harry, Bertie and Minnie. The family’s parson russell dog, Morrie, stays close to her side.