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Garden Harvest
episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • cooking • 25m
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episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • cooking • 25m
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Looking at ’s thriving garden in Melbourne, you’d think she comes from a long line of green thumbs. But it couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Nobody is born knowing how to garden. I wasn’t. And my parents didn't know either. We don't come from generations of farmers. We just started and experimented,” says the urban permaculture gardener and author of .
Cao’s gardening journey began with a simple school project, growing onion chives. The experience planted a seed—pun intended—and she pestered her parents for a garden until her father finally gave in when she was a teenager. Together, they started growing Asian vegetables.
“My parents are Chinese immigrants, so they wanted to grow a lot of the things that my mum was cooking at home. I was pretty fascinated with the fact that you could grow Asian veggies here simply because I was only used to seeing a lot of people growing things like broccoli and kale, and these more common things you’d see in the supermarket,” she explains.
Connie on the sets of The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, Season 8 Credit: Jiwon Kim
While her lush garden now produces more than they can eat, Cao insists she started small and that urban gardening is within everyone’s reach. Here, she shares her top tips for beginners.
Start with pots
No backyard? Not ready to commit to a garden bed? No problem! A balcony is more than enough. “The best way to get started is probably to start growing in pots because it's low commitment. And pots are really good because you can move them around. So, if you decide the left side is not good on the balcony, you can try the right side to see if the sunlight is different. Little plants like and leafy greens are really easy to grow in pots,” says Cao.
Spring onion is a great candidate to grow in pot. Credit: Connie Cao
Don’t wait for summer, start now
You don’t have to wait for spring or summer to get planting. There are plenty of vegetables that thrive in autumn and winter.
“The getting started part is the most difficult. It feels overwhelming, but once you get started, it’s fine,” she assures. In cooler weather, she recommends growing spring onion, bok choy, mizuna, parsley, and Chinese broccoli, which are all great for small spaces. When the weather warms up, she finds that chillies and amaranth greens do well in pots.
Connie Cao has grown her garden slowly over the last eight years. Credit: Alicia Taylor
Plant flowers too
“Flowers are really important for growing veggies. Apart from the fact that they look great, they’re good for attracting pollinators. Growing a lot of flowers can help bring those insects in, which in turn help you grow more fruiting veggies like cucumbers,, and ,” she explains.
Certain insects also act as natural pest control. “I see dragonflies in my garden often, and they eat mosquitoes,” she adds.
Grow what you eat
Cao emphasises the importance of growing vegetables that suit both your climate and your diet.
Summer harvest in Connie Cao's garden Credit: Connie Cao
Share with your neighbours
For Cao, urban gardening is about more than just fresh produce and spending time in nature, it’s about connection.
“It’s this community activity where I get to share my excess harvest with my neighbours. It’s such a nice way to get to know them. And my neighbours are really cute. They often cook the vegetables and give the food back to me,” she says. “They're from a different cultural background, they're Indian so it's nice to get to know about the way they use veggies, and learn from each others.”
