AILEEN Kenny cradles a Grosse Lisse tomato in the palm of her hand.
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“My father always grew Grosse Lisse tomatoes; he wouldn’t touch any other tomatoes. And I’ve always said, ‘No, I grow the Grosse Lisses,’” she chuckled. The vivid red fruit come from plants in a veggie patch at McLean Village. Aileen and Bob have become adoptive parents of the sprawling plot. It began shortly after the couple moved into one of the villas last September.
“I was originally having a sticky-beak around the place, and I run into Mike. I’ve known Mike since 1960,” Bob said.
Mike Lyne is in his late 80s, and started the plot about 10 years ago. He had a few pumpkins and other plants in the soil. He asked if Bob could lend a hand and offered the Kennys garden space.
“He said ‘Anything you want to grow, you grow,’” Aileen recalled. She is a veteran gardener. Her green fingers were inherited from her father who was a market gardener. Bob had not shared Aileen’s hobby, but said as a child, his family sponsored an Italian prisoner-of-war and it left an indelible memory.
“And this Italian prisoner-of-war was a fabulous gardener. Lovely guy as well,” Bob said.
Aileen and Bob soon had the garden cultivated and tilled, and planted her Grosse Lisses, zucchini, beans, jam melons, watermelons, green apple cucumbers, and corn to complement all the pumpkins.
They were offered cow manure from the Macintyre High School paddocks beside their home. They put the manure in hessian bags and immersed them in water to use the infused liquid as fertiliser.
“Anything I grow to eat, I will not use chemicals,” Aileen said.
Mike and the couple soon had the rows ripe with vegetables, some so successful they took home first prize from the Inverell show for biggest pumpkin at 17 kilos, best Jam Melon, Jap Pumpkin and a second place for butternut pumpkin.
Though Aileen said it started as an obligation, they enjoy it and the rewards are great. They already plan to put in winter veggies and save seeds for spring.
Mike has been out of town on family business since the beginning of December, and now the Kennys are left with a familiar problem; what to do with the lovely produce of their efforts. They have given away all they can, including their elderly neighbours, but can’t keep up with the food supply.
Bob said if any organisations would like some of their food for those in need, to ring him on 0428 536 665.