Our visit was on a recent 30 degree-plus afternoon and Anne greeted us barefooted after a swim at the AIS pool. To cool down, I sat on her shaded back deck overlooking a large but only two-year-old laden Black Genoa fig tree. Bright salvia plants, roses, sea holly (Eryngium), vivid orange lion’s tail (Leonotis) and scarlet dahlia flowers were attracting honey bees and native bees and butterflies.

The garden is well laid out and maintained with compost-rich soil and mulch. Anne has done a permaculture course and five years ago she developed a series of raised wicking beds for veggies after she did a gardening course with U3A.

We went on a garden wander from an oval-fruited cumquat tree near the potting shed to the wicking beds filled with scarlet runner beans, broccoli, young Brussels sprout and cabbage plants, ruby chard and baby spinach. Lots of shiny black eggplants, raised from seedlings purchased at Jamison Trash and Treasure markets, were ready for picking at waist height, one of the advantages of raised wicking beds. Every night, Anne harvests whatever has just ripened and braises a great pile of veggies in olive oil to serve with a small portion of meat. She never uses
recipes.

Anne Norris came to Canberra 30 years ago. The suburb of Giralang was developed in 1975. An old fig tree which attracts bats and old plum tree with deep yellow fruit survive from those days and rhubarb grows beneath the plum. She loves gooseberries and has grown them for years to stew and serve with lots of cream.

Dana’s front garden next door is quite formal but a muscat grape-laden driveway gate and a terrace balustrade hung with muscat grapes entice the visitor to a back garden cornucopia.

There are at least 25 different vegetables and herbs and 15 species of fruit. Large green speckled pumpkins raised from seed and clumps of butternut pumpkins are ripening on mulch covered soil. Kale sprouts beneath an Angelina plum tree which was purchased from Greengold nursery at Federation Square.

Along two fencelines, a number of blood orange trees are laden with still green rough-skinned fruit.

There is a large bed filled with a range of mixed potato plants their healthy foliage attesting to a big crop to follow. Seed for rows of capsicums in green, yellow and red stages of ripening came from Aldi and Dana says they are non-genetic. She grows Italian beans speckled in red, pink, green and yellow which are allowed to reach maturity and are dried for the actual bean seed inside for winter soups. Her tomato plants are growing on frames and the fruit is very large and pinkish red.

Fruit from olive trees is processed by Dana and she pickles cabbage in large barrels in the garden in winter to produce sauerkraut.

OPEN GARDENS CANBERRA:
Anne’s and Dana’s Gardens at 14 Spica Street, Giralang, will be open on Saturday, March 16 and Sunday, March 17 from 10am-4pm, with entry $8 for each garden. The owners are supporting the charity Animals Asia and some plants will be for sale. Both gardens are wheelchair and pram accessible.

HARVEST STALL:
At the National Arboretum Canberra on Saturday, March 16 from 10am-12.30pm, the Harvest Group will have a stall selling their fig preserves both sweet and savoury. There will be spicy fig marmalade, fig chutney, pickled figs, dried figs, and black figs in red wine all with the taste of the forest. From the Discovery Kitchen Garden will be pesto, spicy tomato relish, herbs and bags of dried lavender. All produce is grown on site.