Pat Timpano was growing vegetables before he was old enough to attend school. The passionate gardener shares his knowledge with Caitlyn Morgan
IT’S a rare occasion to find Pat Timpano not busy working away in his large “veggie patch”.
The layout has been well thought out with each vegetable meticulously placed. Each row of cucumbers, peppers and strawberries have been measured out, what looks to be by the millimeter.
It’s easy to understand why Pat enjoys spending many hours gardening and planning what he will grow next.
“I just love it,” he says.
“I get so much pleasure from seeing them grow and I love the taste of fresh vegetables.”
Pat’s passion for gardening was developed at a young age.
“I was five years old when I grew my first chilli, I was so proud,” he says.
After moving to Mildura from Italy at 13 years old, Pat’s parents began to sell vegetables commercially.
“We always had the best tasting tomatoes,” he says.
“As an adult I had a fruit block but always had my own veggie patch.
“Sometimes it was a very big veggie patch, other times it wasn’t.”
His current vegetable patch is situated on a quarter of an acre and grows everything from potatoes to rock-melons and corn.
“It’s not often I have to get vegetables from the supermarket,” Pat says. “Everything is planted in stages otherwise you will have too much at once.
“It’s a very good hobby, it’s good for your health but not so much your back. It’s rewarding when you get to harvest your own vegetables.
“You are always learning something new, you just don’t stop learning.”
Pat said the veggie patch is also well loved by his grandchildren.
“They love the corn, they always enjoy hiding in what they call the corn fields,” he says.
“They also enjoy picking the strawberries and eating them while still outside.”
