NZ Gardener editor Jo McCarroll wants you to start your vege patch from scratch
Video may have killed the radio star, but it was radio that turned gardening star and NZ Gardener magazine editor Jo McCaroll into an author.
The Auckland-based journo had pondered the possibility of writing a book on her favourite topic in the past, but the time was never quite right. Then one day she found herself talking about her favourite topic on the radio.
The host poo-pooed the idea that gardening is a good way to stretch your food budget, claiming gardening is hard and expensive, that crops fail and, besides, most people don’t have the room.
“That’s absolutely not true,” she says. “It really rips my knickers when people say that it's very hard or people don't have the space or the time or the money. Because I think – and more than that, I know, because I meet so many gardeners - that people can grow a bit of food, it doesn't take much space, you don't need to spend a lot of money, and it's not that hard."
An “enthusiastic amateur” gardener, McCarroll has been editor of NZ’s number one gardening mag for 14 years, so she really does know what she’s talking and writing about. After the radio show she was contacted by a publisher who wanted her to distil that knowledge into a vege gardening book for beginners.
The result is Jo McCarroll’s Vege Patch From Scratch, 264 pages of inspiring (“Spring can make a gardener out of anyone. Nature’s having a party, and everyone’s invited”, pg120), sensible (“If you grow nothing else, grow herbs. When it comes to bang for your buck you cannot go past them,” pg 98), advice on getting the most out of whatever patch you have available to you.
Detailed without being overwhelming, the book is encouraging, and most importantly of all - demystifying. If I have one critique of the book, it’s that once you read it, there’s really no excuse not to try growing something, even if it’s just a bucket of spuds.
That said, McCarroll is aware that not everyone will agree with her stance on the
ease of growing your own food, and that some folks might even find it a little triggering, who might feel picked on for not growing their own vege.
"People are really busy. They've got heaps on their plate. It's more that it's such a fun and positive thing in my own life, and I'd love for people to give it a go because I think they would find it a fun and positive thing to do."
She reckons growing your own food nourishes more than just your body. You feel a sense of satisfaction, “which is a great thing to feel”.
“Sometimes, in the world that we are all operating in you can feel a bit like there is stuff happening outside of your control. So it's nice to feel like this is something I did, I was able to accomplish this."
Originally from Christchurch, McCarroll grew up on a farm, where she and her cousin once dug over an "enormous" paddock to grow things.
"I don't actually remember if we produced anything at all. But I remember the
satisfaction of doing something and seeing that you had done it. So many jobs in our lives, you never really feel like you can tick them off the list."
Now, the keen cook grows food on her Auckland section. Her love of cooking makes an appearance in the book too. There are recipes dotted throughout the book, including a fabulous no-cook pasta sauce that just screams summer.
"Someone told me the other day that they made an Ottolenghi salad – and I love Ottolenghi. I've got all the books – but they’d bought all the ingredients and it'd come to $80,” she says.
“It shouldn't be that complicated. Especially if you've got stuff in the garden, which is really nice. Like a beautiful tomato – don't be layering on pomegranate molasses or dukkah. It's already beautiful. Let it be just a beautiful tomato."
START SMALL
If you put in too many things it can quickly overwhelm you and start to feel like hard work.
PICK YOUR PLANTS CAREFULLY
Some plants are harder to grow than others.
"If I was only putting in one tomato I would probably put in a sweet cherry 100 hybrid. Because they go off like the clappers. They're so vigorous that they can out run a lot of the problems tomatoes have.
She also recommends dwarf beans, perpetual spinach, herbs in pots and salad greens in a self-watering planter (there's a guide to make your own if you can't afford to buy one in the book).
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
Make sure you’re planting things in the right soil at the right time of year, in the right conditions.
“Temperature and timing is something that so many people get wrong - and to a degree I get it wrong myself because you always want to extend the season or get a bit of a jump-start on the season, but in the end I think you get the best result from your plants when the conditions are as optimal for them as you're able to provide."