Warrnambool backyard garden features on TV show

He is featured in a three-part series on the Over 50 So What! show which is screened on community television.

The first show has already been aired.

It is his use of food cubes that has attracted the interest from TV and even the creator of the Biofilta product he bought.

"The founder of Biofilta came down to see how well my vegetables are growing," he said.

Perry Cho's garden has grown to feature 25 Biofilta Foodcubes which attracted the attention of their creator.

"Somehow the word got around and they contacted me to do the show.

"I've sort of created a cult of food cubes in south-west Victoria."

Until the pandemic hit, Mr Cho had never grown vegetables before.

Now he barely needs to go to the supermarket to buy any. "I'm only a beginner," he said.

Rather than sitting at home watching the TV, Mr Cho decided to rip out some of his English garden and start a vegetable garden.

It meant getting in a bobcat to remove the huge agapanthus that had been there for 40 years, to make way for vegetables to go in in their place.

But just when he was about to harvest his first crop of vegetables, he went out one morning to find they were all gone - the rabbits from the vacant land next door had got in and feasted on the crop.

After researching how high raised garden beds should be to be out of reach of the rabbits, his daughter suggested he try wicking cubes.

"It started with six and grew to 25," he said. "It's just so brilliant.

"Especially for retirees and older people, it's above ground.

"The soil is warmer so your plants grow a lot better. "The season is stretched a bit longer - you can start earlier and finish later.

"Because we use potting mix, there's no weeds. Just plant and wait."

Among the vegetables he has grown are bok choy, gai lan, choy sum, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, broad beans, spinach, corn, eggplant, capsicum, carrots, wombok, chillies, tomatoes and iceberg lettuce which he joked were "priceless".

Last year the price of lettuces skyrocketed to $12 each in some places.

And after trying to grow lemongrass for 43 years since he moved to Warrnambool, it has "gone wild" in his garden.

"We love cooking curries and lemongrass is just sensational. I've got a cube especially for herbs," Mr Cho said.

He said he very rarely had to buy vegetables from the supermarket.

"I've maybe bought vegetables under five times in the last 18 months," he said.

"I've given so much away. I've learnt to stagger my planting too."

Mr Cho has also started to grow his own seedlings, in winter putting them in the bathroom overnight before taking them out to the greenhouse each day.

"Home gardening is getting very sophisticated now... but there is so much I've got to learn," he said.

"I just love it. It's so special."

He originally bought his greenhouse to grow cucumbers, eggplant and capsicum but he ended up using it for tomatoes.

"Luckily I did. We had such a bad spring, it was so wet. The majority of people had trouble growing tomatoes," he said. "I was harvesting tomatoes by Christmas. I still have tomatoes now.

"I love growing tomatoes because there is just something special about it.

"I have so many tomatoes."

He had so many - about 50kgs worth - he decided to take up making chutney, sauce and passata. "Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think of doing sauces," he said.

"It's such a joy to give sauces and chutney to people."

Even though he has a greenhouse, he has modified many of his food cubes to turn them into miniature greenhouses which create their own micro-climate. You only have to water once a week in summer and once a month in winter, if that, Perry said.

"It's the cheapest greenhouse you can ever buy," he said. "It's all experimentation. They will tell you every season is different.

"There's not a day that I feel bored. I enjoy it so much".

IN OTHER NEWS

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.