Gardening with Margaret Matthews
Sowing the seeds
by Margaret Matthews
I can still remember my first garden. I lived with my family in a house on ‘stilts’ on a tropical fruit farm in Queensland.
When I got out of bed in the morning and leaned over the verandah railing, I could see my garden – a bed of rich red soil, in which almost any plant would grow and flourish. I remember especially the vivid orange Californian poppies, with their lacy grey-green foliage, and the tawny chrysanthemums. Both bring back memories of that first garden, 75 years ago.
Almost all young children respond immediately to the fascination of gardening. To the miracle of tiny seeds becoming plants and buds opening into flowers. To the fun of digging, watering, hammering in stakes and, perhaps most of all, squashing bugs!
For several decades now the suburban backyard has ceased to be the focus of family activities. Now that both parents often work, shopping, sport and domestic chores consume the weekend, and the children often desert the backyard in favour of TV and computer games. Also, as land becomes more costly, backyards shrink and there is less room for the vegie bed or the lemon tree.
Many Fifty-Plus News readers who are also grandparents or favourite aunts or uncles might have the time and space to encourage young children to take up gardening.
The Victorian Education Department has for many years conducted a garden competition which has stimulated and inspired many students to create gardens which foster pride in their environment.
The Kevin Heinze Garden Centre in Doncaster last year celebrated its twentieth anniversary. Since 1979 the centre has provided a facility for people of all ages with disabilities or special needs. Over the years a wide variety of students from special schools have learned gardening skills which they will carry forward into adult life. The centre’s motto is ‘Helping People to Grow’, reflecting the emphasis on enjoyment and sharing which is apparent from witnessing the interaction between the young clients and the many volunteers without whom the centre could not function.
Last year the Kevin Heinze Centre published a history of this unique organisation. It’s title is ‘A Dream Bears Fruit’, and it contains a printed and photographic record which is a ‘good news’ story rare in our times. The book costs $5 plus postage and it can be ordered from the centre at 39 Wetherby Road, Doncaster.
Margaret Matthews gardening archive page
