Overview

People have lived for many thousands of years in what is now South Gippsland, Australia. In the 1880s a young Englishman, unaware of the area's long human history, set about clearing forest in the Strzelecki Ranges to establish a farm. Over a century later, Meredith and Gil Freeman came to live on nine acres of what had become productive grazing country. This book is about what is happening on this nine acres thirty years on, against a background of changing seasons-not familiar northern-hemisphere seasons, but seasons people experienced before Europeans arrived and the forest was cleared. This is fertile country, and many useful plants will grow here. You will find in this book ideas about Australian native food plants and practical tips about growing familiar fruit and vegetables as well as less familiar perennial food plants introduced from elsewhere. But Meredith also invites you to explore with her some of the history of this area going back into Deep Time, and to think about other creatures that live here now: wallabies and wombats, parrots and honeyeaters, ladybirds and leaf-curling spiders, tiger snakes and treefrogs. She asks herself many questions, not all of which have easy answers. Does a snail have a heart? Are there any species, plant or animal, that I should try to eradicate? In these times of global crisis, what are my responsibilities as privileged manager of this piece of land? How should I plan for the future? This book offers a different view of what it means to move to the country.

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9780228864868

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For thirty years, Meredith Freeman worked in education, developing curriculum and teaching in secondary schools and at La Trobe University in Melbourne. She has always had a vegetable garden and kept chooks, and shares with her family and friends a deep concern for social justice, the environment, and the future of the planet. Since 1996 she and Gil have lived, farmed and gardened on the nine acres in South Gippsland, which is the subject of this book. Together they founded a community not-for-profit committed to supporting organic growers and the distribution of local food to local people. Their three sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren all now have a strong connection to South Gippsland. Meredith has a PhD in education and a Diploma of Permaculture. With her son Rhys she has authored a book on growing Australian native food plants in South Gippsland based on their own experiences on the land.

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