Canberra Organic Family Garden Initiative (COFGI)

Dr Van Kien Nguyen assists a Vietnamese family garden in Macgregor, ACT Canberra, Australia.

As you may know that Mekong Organics PTY LTD has created internationally and nationally social impacts in the area of organic agriculture & food system movement. We have implemented many international community-based projects in the fields of organic farming, certification and trade for very smallholder farmers to large companies and industries between Australia and Southeast Asia.

We identified that the home organic garden is essential in securing fresh, nutritious vegetables for a healthy family. Practising organic vegetable gardens at home helps to reduce stress and build social networks, better for the mental health of the aged people, young and children.

Mekong Organics piloted this initiative with ZERO DOLLARS to support especially for those Vietnamese parents who have a short or long-term visit to their children in Australia while they want to experience growing healthy food for their children. We started with two Vietnamese families: one in Macgregor and one in Gungahlin in ACT Canberra. We offer free consultation services and advice:

  1. Examine the soils of your location and advise how to prepare good soils for an organic vegetable garden;
  2. We advise growing seasonal crops which include Asian vegetables, and advise which crop is for each season.
  3. We advise making compost from kitchen waste.
  4. We advise buying low-cost used materials to make the fences for some Asian vegetables such as long bitter melon or gourd.
  5. We advise growing Asian herbs in their garden.
  6. We also advise growing fruit trees such as juju bee or persimmon.
  7. We share some Asian vegetable seeds.
  8. We also expect to receive the seeds from your garden to diversify the vegetable varieties.

If you need consultation, please contact Dr Van Kien Nguyen, Director of Mekong Organics.

Mobile: +61 466 999 042

Zalo: +61 466 999 042

Email: organicsmekong@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vankien.nguyen.923

Website: https://mekongorganics.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5ygqv-54zRdqFBUiRW3eMnDbQHP-ys_-

Mr Le Nam Thang, a parent of a Vietnamese family in Macgregor, ACT Canberra, Australia, who is visiting their children for three months in Canberra, was collecting the horse manuals at the Holt Pegasus Community for fertilizing his home garden, physically supported by Dr Van Kien Nguyen.
Mr Le Nam Thang and Dr Van Kien Nguyen transported the wet composted horse manuals from the trailer to the garden.
Dr Van Kien Nguyen invited Mr Le Nam Thang to visit the Charnwood Organic Community Garden to learn how organic vegetables are grown by different people of diverse nationalities, where Dr Van Kien Nguyen owns one organic vegetable plot.
After Mr Le Nam Thang learnt about organic vegetable farming from the natural organic vegetable community garden and collected composted horse manuals, he practised growing green leafy vegetables, strawberries, and herbs.

A half year, Mr Thang revisited Canberra, and immediately he established the autumn leafy vegetable crop such as mustard, mint, strawberry, and lemongrass…

Mustard is growing well.

Family Number 2 in Gungahlin ACT Canberra

Dr Pham Huu Tai from Vietnam is visiting his son’s family in Canberra while enjoying the organic vegetable garden practice mentored by Dr Van Kien Nguyen
Dr Pham Huu Tai did soil preparation using organic compost and planted leafy vegetables and herbs in his son’s garden. Dr Tai felt very happy when he see the leeks grows every day.
We visited a Vietnamese gardener, Mr Le Kim Dong, a retired innovative gardener in Gungahlin area who introduced architecture of garden design into the organic vegetable plots. Mr Dong reused the used materials to decorate his garden attractively.

It is noted that each family has plenty of land in the backyard, which can be turned into an organic vegetable garden for safe and nutritious food.

Vegetable growing in Canberra materials – Vietnamese version for reference

Tài liệu hướng dẫn trồng rau hữu cơ-rau tự nhiên tại Canberra, ACT Úc (bản tiếng Việt) (mekongorganics.com)

We are collecting more innovative stories about organic vegetable family garden in Canberra ACT region for sharing with the public.

Translate »