Kitchen gardens Italian-style

Fabian Capomolla

The Farm Yarra Valley, Vic

“I’ve been interested in gardening since I was a teenager, but my true obsession for growing edibles started when my nonno brought around some tomato seedlings as a house-warming present when I first moved out of home.

My dad was born in Ciano, a small town in the hills of Calabria, and my mum’s side originates from a place called Montagnareale in Sicily. My choice of which plants to grow at home is a reflection of my cultural background.”

Photography: Mark Roper

Fabian Capomolla

The Farm Yarra Valley, Vic

“I live in a small house with a beachside garden. My name, Fabian, means ‘bean grower’, so with that in mind I grow a lot of broad beans – they’re great for providing produce at the start of spring, as well as feeding the soil for summer crops of tasty tomatoes, capsicums, zucchini, leafy greens and runner beans (remember: you’re growing soil before you’re growing plants). I love to grow peperoncini and cucumbers. The chillies remind me of my Calabrian heritage and can easily be grown in pots and preserved, and I love eating the cucumbers straight off the vine on a hot summer’s night while watering my garden.”

Photography: Mark Roper

Fabian Capomolla

The Farm Yarra Valley, Vic

“Gardening is never the same and every day is different. My garden reminds me to take each day as it comes. Enjoy it for what it looks like today – it will never look like that again. My main advice would be to grow what you love, for who you love. And don’t talk at your plants; let them talk to you.”

Fabian Capomolla’s book Growing Food the Italian Way (Plum, $44.99) is out now.

Nonna Tomasina

Concord, NSW

“I was born in Gizzeria, in the province of Catanzaro. I remember learning gardening by helping my mother in our orto, or small garden, when I was a little child. We had a small garden near our home and another piece of land about an hour from the town where we grew wheat, olives, figs, potatoes, tomatoes – what we grew was what we ate.

When I came to Australia I kept gardening because I liked it. I taught my husband, and whenever I plant seeds or trim trees in my garden I watch the moon.”

Photography: Will Horner

Nonna Tomasina

Concord, NSW

“The same things that are beautiful to cook are beautiful to grow. I grow eggplants, tomatoes, beans and basil and then I cook them. The taste of home-grown is completely different.

I grow lots of things: broccoli, lettuce, cucumber, spinach, broad beans and herbs – everything I put in the garden grows but never zucchini. Then I have my fruit trees: prickly pear, avocado, fig, mango, mulberry, mandarin, orange, plum, persimmon, coffee, lemons and grapes.”

Photography: Will Horner

Nonna Tomasina

Concord, NSW

“I love my mangoes, I have two trees and each year I take more than 50 mangoes. I have a very special avocado tree, too. It makes avocados that weigh more than 600 grams, sometimes even 900 grams. It’s been in my garden for more than 50 years. My coffee plants grow so much coffee. I dry the beans in the sun, then take off the skins and roast the beans myself.”

Photography: Will Horner

Mickey Robertson

Razorback Range, NSW

“I’d always wanted a garden. When my husband, Larry, and I bought a collection of dilapidated farm buildings I was given the opportunity to create one much earlier than I’d imagined. As we restored each building, the garden evolved to surround it. I was only 27 when we began here – how time flies when you’re having fun.

As well as our ornamental garden, with everything from roses to frangipani, succulents to perennials, we have our kitchen garden, which has spilled beyond its original boundaries.”

Photography: John Paul Urizar

Mickey Robertson

Razorback Range, NSW

“For me, honest planting for the very best seasonal produce is what makes a great Italian garden. Our fruit trees are coming into leaf bud or blossom: we have apricots, peaches, plums, cherries, pears and quince, but my favourite are the figs.

We’ve just finished the winter Jerusalem artichokes and we’re eating the first peas and broad beans. I’m seeking out last season’s garlic, too – although no longer shiny and new, it’s edible – and hopefully it won’t be too long before this year’s crop can be eaten green.”

Photography: John Paul Urizar

Mickey Robertson

Razorback Range, NSW

“This area is fabulous for rosemary and I use it in the ornamental garden to add solid clumps and for low hedging. One of my favourite herbs is lovage. It has a distinct celery flavour and pops up just as the peas hit their final stride, which means I get to make my favourite pea and lovage soup.

One plant I have yet to master is celeriac. I love the taste of that knobbly root vegetable. I’ve grown small ones but I’m determined to grow a decent-sized one.”

Photography: John Paul Urizar