Vegetable Gardens - 28.09.10

Want a way to live more sustainably and promote a healthier lifestyle for you and your family?

Vegetable patches are all the rage (even the First Lady Michelle Obama has her own at the White House) and Fresh Living Group can help you create the perfect one for your home.

Fresh Living Group managing director Andrew Heath said his children loved spending time in their vegetable patch and helping mum and dad with the gardening.

“The kids get a real understanding of nature and where food comes from,’’ Andrew said.

"The added benefit is we are all eating healthier and it tastes great too!”

Andrew said the team at Fresh Tanks can build and set up timber and metal veggie patches, as well as take care of irrigation.

“We can supply and install rainwater tanks, pumps and accessories to ensure adequate water supply during the summer months,” Andrew said. A recent project for the Standfield family who wanted to teach their children about sustainability saw the Fresh Tanks team utilise the latest design in slimline rainwater tanks to fit in excess of 6000 litres of storage in the family’s disused sideway. The team also created a raised garden bed for the family that they use as a vegetable and flower patch.

“Our kids love getting their hands dirty helping out in the garden, particularly the veggie garden where they really become involved,” said Matt Standfield.

“The fact that we can use the water we collect has meant that our children have quickly come to realise what a valuable resource water is and delight in telling me each time it rains that ‘the tanks will be full, Daddy!’,” he said.

Vegetable patches are also a way to improve health and wellbeing. Research shows that being outdoors in the fresh air, around green space and in touch with nature brings with it many psychological and mental health benefits.

Andrew said his vegetable patch had also helped his family to get to know the neighbours better. “The veggie patch has created a sense of community as my wife is always dropping of surplus fruit and vegies to the neighbours,” Andrew said. " One neighbour even baked us her secret family Pavlova recipe in return.”

For more on how Fresh Tanks can help you create a vegetable garden phone 1300 FRESH LIVING.