![The Writer's Plot](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/8091/373945/5dc3ab460bcdc/The-Writers-Plot.jpg)
Good Organic Gardening contributor Jana Holmer, husband Pieter and daughter Holly live on a 622m2 block in Newtown, an old suburb of Geelong on the outskirts of the CBD.
Formerly with international professional services firm Ernst & Young, Jana now describes herself as an author, builder, mother and carer. Her pastimes are writing children’s stories and making pasta and natural cures for ailments. She also recently invented an educational card game.
Then, of course, there’s gardening. She came to it early in life when, at the age of five, she and her family lived in a Californian bungalow on a cobblestone laneway in the Melbourne inner suburb of Fitzroy, which in the early 70s was “a mix of timberyards, an industrial estate and rough housing on narrow streets”, she recalls.
“Mum dug up all the lawns to grow corn, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, chillies, onions, garlic, silverbeet and different types of string beans and lima beans. There was a huge fig tree in the front yard producing massive, juicy purple figs. I had to walk through the mud and help sow seeds in the garden.”
It was a poor, mainly migrant neighbourhood and Jana’s family did it tough as well. “For dinner we were lucky to eat a slice of buttered bread and a small chop with tomato. Neighbours across the road bred pigs and we often shared each other’s harvest and their meat.
“We got lucky one day,” she laughs. “A chook flew into our yard and we ate it. The next day the Italian neighbour had a boxing match with my father. Little did he know that my father knew how to box.
“There was no telling where the chook came from; most migrants in the street had muddy yards and bred chooks, ducks and pigs.
Denne historien er fra November - December 2019-utgaven av Good Organic Gardening.
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Denne historien er fra November - December 2019-utgaven av Good Organic Gardening.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
![Glamour girls](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8091/814504/61c409ab4dc93/crp_Glamour-girls.jpg)
Glamour girls
EVERYONE LOVES A HARDWORKING ISA BROWN BUT GET A LOAD OF THESE CHIC CHICKENS AND FEATHERED FASHIONISTAS
![FRIED VEG](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8091/814504/61c41411ea417/crp_FRIED-VEG.jpg)
FRIED VEG
IT’S POSSIBLE TO ENJOY A FRY-UP IN A DELICIOUSLY HEALTHY WAY BY TURNING TO SOME FRY-FRIENDLY PLANTS
![BEYOND BIG RED](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8091/814504/61c41a6eb04df/crp_BEYOND-BIG-RED.jpg)
BEYOND BIG RED
TOMATOES COME IN ALL SHAPES, SIZES AND COLOURS, SO NOW’S THE TIME TO EXPLORE THEIR INFINITE VARIETY
![EVEN MORE TROPPO](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8091/814504/61c32491c5ad8/crp_EVEN-MORE-TROPPO.jpg)
EVEN MORE TROPPO
ANOTHER SENSATIONAL SIX TO CONSIDER FOR YOUR GARDEN — OR YOUR FRUIT SALAD
![LET'S STALK RHUBARB](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8091/814504/61c40f021899b/crp_LETS-STALK-RHUBARB.jpg)
LET'S STALK RHUBARB
JUST AS TOMATO IS A FRUIT USED AS A VEGETABLE, RHUBARB IS A VEGETABLE COMMONLY CONSUMED AS A DESSERT
![FOOD OF THE GODS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8091/814504/61c4058e00ced/crp_FOOD-OF-THE-GODS.jpg)
FOOD OF THE GODS
THE FLESHY FRUIT OF THE FICUS WAS MUHAMMAD’S FAVOURITE AND BUDDHA FOUND ENLIGHTENMENT UNDER A FIG TREE
![MAKING GOOD BETTER](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8091/814504/61c41d9eb93a1/crp_MAKING-GOOD.jpg)
MAKING GOOD BETTER
THE IRREPRESSIBLE TV PRESENTER WRITES ABOUT HOW SHE, WITH HUSBAND ANTON AND DAUGHTER FRIDA, TURNED A STEEP HOBART BLOCK INTO A PRODUCTIVE GARDEN
![True lily](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8091/814504/61c417732dad4/crp_True-lily.jpg)
True lily
MANY PLANTS ARE CALLED LILIES BUT IT’S THE MEMBERS OF THE GENUS LILIUM THAT ARE THE REAL DEAL
![SALTY BUDS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8091/814504/61c403da6a8e1/crp_SALTY-BUDS.jpg)
SALTY BUDS
THE CAPER BUSH PRODUCES TWO DISTINCT BUT EQUALLY DELICIOUS, TANGY MORSELS: CAPERS AND CAPERBERRIES
![Ducks on duty](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8091/768731/6171113ae4f17/crp_Ducks-on-duty.jpg)
Ducks on duty
BUSY, VIGILANT, HARD ON GARDEN PESTS AND GENEROUS LAYERS — YOU’VE GOTTA LOVE A DUCK!