Sustainability at home with Yana and Eddie

In what feels like tumultuous and unpredictable times, both economically and environmentally, we sat down with Tamborine locals, Yana, Eddie and their son Aaron, who have transformed their property from being barren and parched to a sustainable tropical oasis. Yana gave us some tips on how we can all become less reliant on mass agricultural systems, and happy knowing where our food is coming from.

When did you move to the property? What was the quality of the soil like, and did you have to start crops from scratch? We moved out here in the beginning of 2019 and we have had our share of problems with the property. Originally this area was cattle pasture and previously it was a horse property, so when we arrived the soil was compacted and depleted of nutrients. The wasn’t much life in the soil. The only edible thing growing here when we arrived was a small mandarin tree and a banana tree. So far, we have planted over 80 varieties of fruit trees and over 2000 native trees.

What have been the biggest challenges you have faced? Much of the property is sloping, so we’ve had to deal with erosion during heavy rains. However, we’ve stabilised the slopes and designed the property to slow down the water flow, redirecting it into the soil. We came out of the last set of big rains without too much damage. Also, the property was overgrown with noxious weeds, so that was something we also had to overcome.

Did you have previous experience in gardening, planting and harvesting, or have you learnt through trial and error? I grew up helping my Mum and Grandma in the garden in the summer months back in Russia. It was very common for most of our food to come from our own veggie gardens so that knowledge was very important. We would grow potatoes, cabbages, corn, beans, cucumbers, eggplant, carrots, beetroot, tomatoes and herbs, as well as various fruits and berries. We preserved a lot of our produce for winter and stored excess veggies in a cellar.

However, I’ve had to relearn how to garden to suit Australia’s unique climate and conditions. What worked in Russia didn’t necessarily work here.

Eddie didn’t have much experience in the garden, so he’s been learning a lot these last few years.

What motivated you to start growing your own produce? After moving back to Australia, we realised that we were completely dependent on the agricultural system for our food but, at the same time, this system is completely unsustainable and damaging to our environment; degrading our soils, polluting our water and air and so on.

So, we started thinking more about self-sufficiency and sustainable living. This became even more important and urgent after the birth of our son. We wanted to do whatever we could to minimise our impact on our environment. Do you have any tips for beginners and do you follow a certain method of cultivating? It seems daunting for novices! For the absolute beginner who wants to get started, we would recommend raised garden beds or self-watering wicking beds, which you can build yourself quite cheaply. With these methods you can control the growing conditions (soil quality, moisture, pest control etc.) more easily than planting directly into the ground. And you’ll be surprised just how much fresh herbs and veggies you can grow in a small space. SOME USEFUL TIPS: 1 Plant densely and cover your soil with a thick layer of mulch (e.g. sugar cane mulch) to protect the soil from overheating and losing moisture. 2 Diversity is important for adding different nutrients into the soil and confusing pests - mix up your veggies. 3 Add some herbs and flowers to attract pollinators and beneficial bugs. But the most important advice is to just start planting, observing and experimenting because “your best teacher is your last mistake.”

In your opinion how important is it being self-sufficient? We are living in uncertain times. Globalisation and just-in-time supply chains are very vulnerable to disruptions. We’ve seen some of this during the last 2 years with Covid. Being more self-sufficient or community-sufficient will help us with rising food costs, food shortages and food quality, so it gives you peace of mind.

Being self-sufficient also means lessening our impact on natural resources and protecting our environment for future generations. An added bonus is that we both just love working on the land, it’s rewarding and good for the soul.

What are your plans for the property in the future? We would like to expand what we are currently doing, i.e. build more swales, extend our food forest and native forest, build more wicking beds, plant more fruit trees etc. Some other projects in the near future include beekeeping and growing mushrooms. If things continue as planned, we would like to sell excess produce and maybe even open a small outdoor café using fresh produce from our land. We would like to share our knowledge in the future and build a community of like-minded people.