Tonight, I attended a community presentation held by the Melton Garden Club and the Melton Shire Council about Organic Veggie Gardening. Both Michael (my veggie gardening mate) and I had a great time. The guest speakers were Vasili Kanidiadis from SBS and CH31’s Vasili’s Garden, and Vox Bandicoot who are a comedy duo/trio. The garden club are mainly into ornamentals, so Michael and I came into our element.
The hall was packed, which just goes to show how popular veggie gardening has become of late. Mind you, just about every third question was about lemon trees! There were are few questions about organic pest control and I told everyone about my world famous earwig catching method, and Vasili asked Michael and I about growing veggies in raised beds. The Q&A went on for about an hour and was very interesting.
Then he showed the episode of Vasili’s Garden that featured Michael and his family. Everyone loved it, but it was cut short because Vasili talked too much at the start. For those readers in town, the show is available on DVD at the Melton Library.
After some hijinks from Vox Bandicoot, who were a hoot, Vasili talked about how the green waste collected by the council gets turned into mulch, compost and soil and how it is a good alternative to making your own.
The evening ended with a plug for the ACF GreenHome Community workshops at Caroline Springs being held in May and June, and I handed out flyers for it. We then went to say thanks to the President of the garden club and picked up a voucher for a free bag of compost/mulch.
Of course, not being one to miss out on a photo opportunity, Michael captured this happy snap for me.
Vasili then mentioned that he had finished the article that we did together for his new magazine, Good Garden. He delayed publication because K-mart and Woolworths have taken it up, so it will now be out in July. He even mentioned that we should set up an episode of his show at my house with all of the sustainable living group. I will organise that very soon.
As I mentioned before, we had a great time, and catch up again when I help out the ACF GreenHome team. As Vasili would say, MARESI!!!
P.S. Sorry about not posting the podcast for this week. Adam and I will be working on part two tomorrow night.
OMG! I love Vasili…!!!! So good to hear about the Magazine being taken up by the Big Wigs of Woolies and Kmart, congrats with that.
xoxoxo
I would have loved to have been there. We used to watch Vasili’s Garden all the time on SBS and really enjoyed it.
Great work, and I hope that means you are feeling alot better now too!
How does Vasili’s SBS series compare to the community TV show he did?
I bought a DVD of the community TV show and it was MORE than disappointing and I have been extremely wary of getting the DVD of the SBS series.
I love Vasili’s show! I reckon getting you and the Melton group on there is a great idea.
@ Sis
I was just talking to him on the phone! Planning to have an episode filmed in June after the kitchen is finished.
@ nevyn
It was great fun. I get to catch up with him again in May at another event.
@ Dixiebelle
Too right! Feeling a lot better. No seeds seems to be working.
@ Onesimus
I think that both series are on par, with the SBS series being a little more upmarket. I like them both, because it is all about the gardeners and not Vasili.
@ J
I should be able to get a few members on the show! It will be good to show some of the things I have done around here to the public
Gav