A Green Granny's Garden

Fionna Hill is a florist and has written books in this line but this is a year’s diary of when she first joined an Auckland community garden.

I have just finished reading her ‘A Green Granny's Garden - a year of the good life in Grey Lynn. The confessions of a novice urban gardener.’ It is a light and sometimes funny diary of starting her gardening in an organic community garden but also has some great recipes, hints and little stories of things she and her family have done over the years.

A Green Granny’s Garden covers the preparation and eating of the harvest, including recipes, produce gathered from elsewhere, heritage seeds, companion planting, ornamental edibles, and the microgreens and herbs grown on Fionna’s second-floor apartment balcony. ‘I was brought up by hardworking kiwi parents who lived through the Depression. They gardened: Mum preserved fruit, vegetables and more; Dad was our home handyman and could turn his talents to many things. I have inherited some of mum’s frugal habits and have her dog-eared Aunt Daisy’s Book of Handy Hints, which I sometimes consult.’

This is a book for gardeners and non-gardeners alike, as Fionna’s endearing and honest account of her experience makes for a warm and witty read. Fionna Hill is an exuberant, vivacious gardener with an enormous zest for life. An experienced writer, she is also a professional florist and stylist. © 

I will be referring back to it for her recipes and hints, especially her rhubarb weed killer; as soon as my rhubarb grows enough to get some decent leaves to pick.