The mature fruit and vegetable garden

The mature fruit and vegetable garden supplies abundant fresh, unspoiled and tasty food to the table every day. We pay not with cash but our time and the sweat from our brows.

Written by Dr. Bernard Preston, BSc, UED, BEd, DC

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Quick guide

The mature fruit and vegetable garden
Avocados for the amazing fruit fats
Greens keep you regular
Chickens for food and fertilization
A mealie a day won't make you fat

It has occurred to me recently that we have turned a corner in our fruit and veg garden; things are getting easier as we do our best to work with nature rather than against it. Don’t get me wrong, it is still hard work but somehow things are less difficult.

So what are the signs of a mature food garden? The first is that whenever you put a spade in the ground, you’re disappointed if you do not uncover at least one earthworm; and they are so fat and wriggly. Healthy soil is riddled with these nematodes; their castings leave behind such beneficial nutrients for your plants.

And the worm farms continue to produce such benefits with little fuss; literally thousands of wrigglies for protein for the hens, vermicompost and worm wee for your plants. They are fed from the kitchen compost bin, old cabbage leaves and the odd dead rat; bird or chicken. They deliver such an abundance of nutrients for the fruit trees and veggies.

The wonder of worm farms

Tomatoes have been the bane of our lives; so essential for the lycopene protection for the prostate and other glands but so blighted from the thick mists.

But gradually over the years, wild cherry tomatoes have increased in numbers and this summer we have had so many bowls of bright red fruit to add to salads and stews.

A tomato a day keeps the urologist at bay, as the saying goes. It’s such a joy to have just one pit-stop in the middle of the night and able to enjoy the “sweet pee” without troubles; and to be told by my urologist that the PSA is 0.9.

A life without medication is one of the greatest blessings for those willing to put time and energy into healthy lifestyles.

An abundance of cherry tomatoes

Bucketfuls of berries

We have have bucketfuls of mulberries in spring.

Strawberries have been enjoyed daily for five months mainly in our smoothies.

Cape gooseberries are our staple, ad lib for much of the year. A mountain of fruit but believe you me, it is only for those willing to put in the hard yards. Preserving that abundance, picking and shelling is strenuous work; and then turning it into jams and jellies.

The berry pickers

Once you get your mind in the right place, it is beautiful hard work; it’s not a dirty four-letter word. Getting your exercise with the bounty of nature around you instead of the wearisome gym and pounding the roads is supreme.

The cherry guavas trees are laden; how I love a glass of our own mead in the evenings, seasoned with the fruit. I could never go back to commercial wine and beer; so inferior to a glass from your own cellar. But again, it’s hard WORK harvesting the honey, picking the fruit and fermenting your own tipple.

There is also a not unreasonable belief that home-brews do not cause cancer like commercial alcohol does^[2]. But they will still addle your liver if you overindulge, particularly those consuming large amounts of refined carbs^[3]. Those living the Blue Zones drink quite a lot with their meals but it’s locally produced without fungicides, sulphites and the like.

The material expressed on this page is gleaned from the nutritional and environmental literature; it is clearly referenced. A plain distinction is made between the author's opinion and that which is scientifically proven. When in doubt consult your health professional.

To suggest a correction or clarification, write to Dr Bernard Preston here. Contact.

Avocados for the amazing fruit fats

The avocados started bearing last year in May; now it’s April and we still have a few.

Can you imagine the blessing that an avo a day, fresh from the garden brings? But again, it’s still hard work, not a little dangerous climbing a ladder and fishing for the queen of fruit oils with a long pole. I do wish we could also grow olives but they are only for winter rainfall areas.

Bees for pollination

Remember they are dangerous too

The real value of the bees of course is not their honey but the complete pollination of all our fruit and veggie flowers. A friend commented she had never seen granadillas so filled to the brim with the pulp; bucketfuls of them. Who was it who complained they just couldn’t afford fruit?

The bees are mainly for pollination; oh, and yes for the honey too.

Greens keep you regular

Late last year the kale, cabbage and broccoli got ahead of us, dropping their seeds; we have a huge patch of tiny plants that came up of their own accord. They still had to be thinned out; I won’t pretend otherwise, time-consuming and hard work on hands and knees. On a personal note, I have had a lifelong struggle with severe constipation; it is greens daily that keep me regular and make visits to the loo an easy two minute affair.

Greens seeding themselves everywhere

This year I didn’t plant butternuts, they just came up in the compost; we are enjoying the first soups and soon there will literally be barrow-loads of the gourds. I am not exaggerating; but the vervets have been very destructive as usual.

Collect your own seed

We dried literally hundreds of seeds from the broad beans last year. Already there are over 100 plants sprouting and doing beautifully in the late summer rains. But they too are hard work.

For each, digging a hole 40cm deep for a strong intingu, filling it with compost and then setting the seed; and charcoal from a local pizzeria. They will have to be tied many times in the months ahead, so heavy will they be in fruit; abundant organic vegetable protein.

Again on a personal note, they are the only source of pharmaceutical amounts of L-dopa, the precursor of the happy hormone. Enjoyed daily, fresh initially, then blanched and frozen thereafter they keep the nasty tremor in my right hand under control.

A mountain of beans in a couple months

Chickens for food and fertilization

Beauty pageant and her nine chicks

We had our own delightful Easter Egg blessing this year. On Saturday a gorgeous missing hen named Beauty Pageant, nesting well hidden in the depths of Our Green Garden emerged with nine darling little chicks.

Half of them will grow up to be horrible rapist young cockerels, perfect for the pot, the hens bringing us free range eggs that are without equal; those that survive the Gymnogene, the mongoose and the feral cat, that is.

A mealie a day won't make you fat

Older mealie cobs are perfect for cornbread

This summer we enjoyed a mealie a day for nearly three months. We’ve moved over to the yellow corn, planted normally by farmers for their livestock. It is tastier and a rich source of beta-carotene, the precursor of vitamin A. Healthy starches, also mountains of freshly dug potatoes are hard to find these days.

The Mature Fruit and Vegetable Garden is utterly dependent on a reliable source of cheap water in the dry months. You simply cannot produce food on this scale if you’re dependent on the utility; it is far too expensive.

That means harvesting and storing at least 30kL of rain; and being willing to carry bucket-loads from the shower and washing machine if necessary. It’s a big winner though because the axial stress on the spinal vertebrae and hips strengthens our bones, protection against the inevitable tumbles the elderly all take.

The "Two to One" rule

The two to one rule states that for every hour spent on improving your lifestyle you’ll save double on healthcare; probably ten times less pain and suffering too.

Gardening like this is not for sissies but the big plus is that one does not need to face old age with trepidation. Whole organic foods grown without ecocides, fertilised with compost and rich in nutrients are what enable so many of the Blue Zone people to reach their nineties, fit and strong with their marbles intact^[1].

The Okinawans have a beautiful word for this lifestyle; “ikigai” is the meaning and purpose that they find in old age. They are avid gardeners; ten times as many reach a hundred. In all five Blue Zone counties they are also very religious, off-putting to some, but belonging to different faiths; none sadly are Protestants. They take the wellness of the human frame more seriously.

It takes a very determined start into this new lifestyle; you have to pay forward, up front. But I can assure you, after the first year of hard grind, you’ll never look back.