Mum's and Jean's Garden - A Project

Mum and Dad on their wedding day

Mum

My mum is 92 and still living in the family home.  My sister lives with her and is her carer.  They live in a house with a huge back yard.  When dad was alive he was the gardener, growing fruit trees and vegetables to feed a household of 6.  In addition, dad raised chickens, bantams, pheasants, pigeons and even ducks at times, to put meat and eggs on the table.  He also raced the pigeons.  We only ate the slow ones. Dad loved birds and we had pet cockatoos, galahs, finches, buggies and magpies. We didn't eat them. 

With dad gone and mum getting frail and almost blind, my sister cares for and maintains the house and garden.  Together with my mum's wisdom and my sister's abilities, they do very well.  But Jean could do with some help with the rambling garden.

I however, have no backyard, only courtyards and a terrace.  So Jean and I have decided we would try to recreate some of dad's veggie patch in their backyard.  We are going to start small, unlike dad.  Jean's already planted some new fruit trees and the 60 year old lemon and orange trees dad planted are still doing well.  Jean keeps them well watered and fertilised.

Mum says we need to prepare the soil before we do anything else.  So next week we will scrap back the bark in a couple of beds and apply a good dose of blood and bone.  

If you have any suggestions about what would be the best vegetables to plant in Adelaide at this time of year,  or what else we should be doing to the soil before planting, we would love to hear from you.