Italian Garden In Papanui

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31248, 21 December 1966, Page 2

Italian Garden In Papanui

An Italian family has transplanted a “little bit of home” to a Christchurch suburb. Lovingly tended by 68-year-old Mrs Maria Giovanna Veronese, the 78perch garden yields many of the plants and fruits of Italy.

Although some of the plants pine for the sunshine of Italy, others have successfully adapted to the New Zealand climate. Grapes, for wine and table, grow plentifully—but the family’s favourite white Italian grapes show a Latin temperament.

“They miss the sunshine,” said her youngest son, Ennio.

Ten years ago, Mrs Veronese came to New Zealand with her husband and the younger members of her family of 10 children. With the exception of one daughter, who still lives in Italy, her children have since settled here. Five of her six sons are living in Christchurch.

As the daughter, and later the wife, of a farmer, Mrs Veronese loves the land, and after the family lost their farm during the war, they were determined to find ‘•Mama” a plot of land where she could grow the plants and vegetables she loved so much.

After they had been in New Zealand for a year, they found an overgrown section in Papanui which seemed suitable. It has long since been tamed and planted with an enormous variety of vegetables. Mrs Veronese has not learned to speak English, but she has not been lonely. She has found consolation and fulfilment in her garden, and is contented to see her sons happy.

“We did not miss the food of Italy because Mama still cooks in Italian,” said Ennio, who lives with her. Four varieties of Italian lettuce grow in the garden. Winter lettuces, they are allowed to grow to seed in the summer for the next year’s crop. During the winter they are cooked, or eaten in salads. Rows of beans, many of them Italian, are growing at present “Italian beans taste better, and we make them into soup,” said Mrs Veronese.

A persimmon tree, which yields a pink fleshy fruit rather like a tomato, has taken root beside two fig trees, which are now in fruit “Our figs would do better In a warmer climate. We use only the first crop, because the second crop does not grow very big,” said Mrs Veronese.

Italians love spaghetti, and the Veronese family are no exception. A spaghetti-making machine, sent from Italy, produces two different widths.

Home-made spaghetti is made from a paste of flour and eggs. With 50 or 60 eggs and a large quantity of flour, Mrs Veronese makes a large supply every two or three months.

Tomatoes, which provide the sauce for the spaghetti, are just beginning to ripen in the small hot-house. The supply will be kept up with outdoor tomatoes picked early next year. Soup--a favourite dish—is usually produced from a pure vegetable extract of pumpkins, asparagus, beans or carrots. Four or more varieties of vegetables are served with every meal, including egg plants (Italian style), green

peppers, and artichokes. The Italian artichokes grow above the ground—the original plants were given to them by an Italian friend. The Italian cherries look similar to ordinary cherries, but have a bitter flavour.

“We found some plants growing on a river-bank, and brought them home,” said Ennio. “There are more plants growing in New Zealand than we realised.” The fruit trees include many varieties of plums, pears, quinces, figs and grapes. Hundreds of bottles of fruit are preserved, but there is a constant supply of fresh vegetables. Camille, which grows wild in Italy, has successfully taken root, and the centres of the yellow flowers are used to brew a beverage which is served in place of tea or coffee. Meats are enhanced by some native herbs, which are grown in the hot-house. As yet the Veronese family has not discovered a New Zealand cheese which suits their palates. “We cannot find the cheese we want,” said Ennio. “Mama makes the bread but she cannot make the cheese.”