Who
Anthony Badr
No recipes involved in today’s post. Anthony shares with us his bountiful veggie garden filled with sorrel, broccolis, tomatoes, sweet peas, spinach, cabbage, lettuce and of course his lovely chooks. I had a taste of a bit of everything while photographing the lot – they tasted so sweet and full of flavour.
Growing up in a Lebanese family, Anthony’s Dad always had (and still has) varieties of home grown vegetables in their backyard. Anthony learnt from the best on how to run his own backyard veggie patch. He started the patch 4 years ago and slowly improved the soil over time and added in the irrigation system.
The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has reaffirmed his belief in the importance of being able to grow his own food. “It’s a life skill that will be passed onto my kids.”
You can follow Anthony’s veggies garden progress on his Instagram account.
Anthony’s food waste tips
"My wife always cooks with whatever I am ready to harvest in mind. If I am harvesting broccoli or cauliflower she will cook to suit. I always grow food that I know I can pass on to family and friends. I grow Asian greens for the in-laws and veggies suited for Lebanese cooking for my parents. I also grow a lot of veggies I know I can either make sauces out of or I can pickle / store in jars. I also look for options to freeze food. Tomatoes jalapeños beans cucumbers etc. I also look at using every part of my veggies. With broccoli for example I use the head and the stem in cooking the chooks get all the leaves as a green feed nothing gets wasted. I try to get multiple uses out of all my veggies. Tomatoes for example I make sauces with the fruit I then feed the skins and seeds to the chickens and then use their manure in the garden. Multiple uses every time. With the food waste, my chooks are key to my food waste management. I shelled my peas today for dinner the shells go to the chooks. Everything goes there."
