Andrew, our amazing gardener who has more than 20 years of training and experience, loves being in the garden, amongst the living things.  He loves all gardens, but his passion is growing food. One of the things that drew him to A Taste of Paradise was our certified organics and permaculture driven methods of farming, the other of course was the work we do with at-risk and disadvantaged young people.

When asked what his top 5 tips for growing delicious veggies are? Andrew says:

  1. Make a compost
  2. Make a compost
  3. Make a compost
  4. Make your garden
  5. Plant your seedlings

Andrew believes and has seen in his years as a gardener, that compost is the most important part of any vegetable garden. In fact, he says that compost is the lifeforce of the garden.  Each handful of compost has millions and millions of lifeforms and each lifeform has a job.  When they all work together, in the right conditions – they feed the plants.

This makes healthy plants, healthy plants make healthy people and healthy people make healthy choices.  One of the things Andrew loves about A Taste of Paradise, is seeing kids learning about the garden, learning the process of growing things that you can eat. He loves watching them try real, fresh fruit and veg, often for the first time, and seeing how much they love it.

So what makes a good compost?

  • 2 parts plant material – branches, plants, leaves, straw, grass…
  • 1 part manure (we use chicken and cow manure at AToP)

According to Andrew “Compost makes a better world”

Let us know if you have any fruit and veg garden questions and we will see if Andrew can give you any tips.