Meet Brigitte Zantner

"We relocated from Mackay in 2000 and found a lovely property in Balmoral Ridge with beautiful views over the Sunshine Coast. Maleny has wonderful soil, I have always loved gardening and so I established a veggie garden with herbs, like parsley, chives, oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary and flowers.

Depending on the season I added lettuce, tomatoes, capsicum, chillies and many other veggies in between the herbs. Veggies popped out of the compost whenever they were ready to grow – mainly bell chillies, cherry tomatoes and lots of other things. I let myself be guided by the garden, the season and the weather. Pottering around the garden is very relaxing and satisfying. The more time I spend there, even weeding, the more I discover, learn and enjoy.

To improve the soil I like to use compost, the ingredients for it collected from neighbours and friends, mushroom compost and manure. I cover all beds with mulch. To keep the insects out of some plants that don’t need bees for pollination, my husband built the ‘White House’, a shade house covered in white shadecloth. Everything in there just grows the best!

Soon I harvested more than we could eat, freeze or preserve so I first swapped veggies with neighbours and friends. In 2015, I got to know about growing for the Co-op as a consignor. Since then I've been happy and grateful that I am able to supply the Co-op with some of my veggies. Currently I deliver herbs, cherry tomatoes and snake beans. Other times I have lemons, passionfruit, lettuce, kale, silverbeet, bok choi or whatever is in season."

Brigitte is a also a (very!)regular member of our volunteer gardening team in the Co-op Community Garden.

First published 2023