By Luke Voogt
Thomson’s Ernesto Sanchez will show all he can do with a small patch of land when he opens his garden to the public on Sunday.
In 60 square meters the Columbian expat has grown 33 fruits and berries, 30 herbs, kept chickens and cultivated an extensive worm farm.
“We produce almost no organic waste,” he said.
“Everything you see in the garden is second-hand stuff that has been repurposed.”
For the first time Ernesto will join 13 other local home-owners displaying their gardens for Geelong Sustainable House Day.
“Part of the reason we bought the house was to turn it into a permaculture demonstration site,” he said.
Ernesto moved to Geelong in 2013.
He worked as a chef for about five years after moving to Australia in 2007 with his wife.
“While I was doing that I started wondering about food production.”
Then he discovered permaculture, sustainable agriculture based on natural processes.
“It’s about trying to replicate those systems in whatever you’re making,” Ernesto said.
He has even turned his passion into income, running a worm-farming micro-business from home and working for an Australian kitchen-garden program.
“Everyone who wants to get something happening can do it,” he said.
“First-generation” Bannockburn farmer Chris Balazs will also open his home for the day.
Chris developed his farm from getting some cows “to mow the laws” in 2001 to a full-blown sustainable operation.
“I used my science and corporate background to do farming a bit differently,” he said.
Chris described himself as a “conscious carnivore” who understood animals can be loved but still eaten.
“Our ethos with regards to the animals is: awesome life, one bad day.
“By that we mean the animals are treated with respect and are kept in a stress-free environment.”
Every part of the farm supported another, Chris said.
“The ash that comes out of the fire goes into our compost and our compost grows our vegetables. Our vegetables feed us, the waste of the vegetables goes to the chickens and the chickens produce the eggs we eat.”
More information on Sustainable House Day is available at geelongsustainability.org.au/shd_2016.
