Tammy Huynh's unique journey towards a love of horticulture | My Garden Path | Gardening Australia
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- čas přidán 10. 07. 2024
- We meet Tammy Huynh, a horticulturist and garden consultant who wants to add a little bit of greenery to everyone’s life. Subscribe 🔔 ab.co/GA-subscribe
Tammy grew up in Cabramatta, Western Sydney, where her family had a large productive backyard teaming with a variety of productive crops and fruit trees. Tammy says this garden - and her grandmother, who was a talented gardener - was a big part of her becoming a horticulturist.
She is now dedicated to sharing knowledge and inspiring people to get growing. She’s worked across digital and print media, runs workshops, provides garden and design advice as a consultant, and was recently awarded Horticulturist of the Year 2021 by the Australian Institute of Horticulture.
“My family always grew their own, so I had the luxury of home-grown food growing up. My grandma started it and my parents tend to it now. They just grow what they want and need, which is really different to more western new gardens that prioritise aesthetics. We’ve always had chooks that roam around doing their own thing, and bees now. I love to just be able to potter and pick my own things, especially after a long day inside, I can go and look, touch, getting lost in the space.”
Even after studying horticulture, she is envious of her parents’ ability to just “put something in the ground and it just works, and I still can’t get it to work! It’s amazing what they did with what little they had.” When her parents arrived from Vietnam, they quickly started growing for their own food and to sell food at local markets for an income, “it’s all they knew”.
She’s added her own touch with an “ornamental space built out of scraps and things for workshops. When I eventually buy some land I will have a lovely, beautiful, productive garden, not just this collection!”
Part of the decision to study in the first place was her parents’ sudden decision to start a bamboo farm at Peats Ridge, 1.5 hours from Sydney. Tammy helped her parents plant out a new property with bamboo - a long, tough gig that became the focus of her honours thesis on bamboo. “I wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I know a fair bit about them, it’s a very interesting grass. We have two main edible types of clumping bamboo.”
“Restaurants and most consumers go for canned bamboo shoots for convenience but fresh is best. We harvest young shoots, and it’s a very manual and physical process. You cut, prepare, peel back leaf shoots, and then have to boil them to get rid of a small amount of cyanide that makes them bitter. The funny thing is I hate eating them!!”
Tammy is “trying to cover as much horticulture as possible”.
“Writing is what I enjoy the most, which seems dull, but I enjoy inspiring people. And the other aspect is the teaching - you can meet so many people who say they can’t grow anything, but they just haven’t been given the right tools; I love seeing that lightbulb moment go off and they come back saying, ‘Look it’s working!’ I want them to go on and not need me in future, I want to teach them skills to build on. I’m still learning too of course.”
“I always like to remind people I do believe everyone can grow - you can always make space for it! Once people do get into it, they realise how much better off they are and that the plants are taking care of them too - they’re less anxious and stressed, and the whole process of helping them is healing us.
“I also think everyone should be able to grow their own food. I still have to go to the supermarket, but just a crop of lettuce, or spinach, there’s really something in being able to grow your own and it’s easier than people think.”
For Tammy, gardening isn’t just about having something pretty or productive, it’s about discovering your own abilities and confidence, and being empowered to be creative.
Featured plants:
Dragonfruit - Selenicereus cv.
Taro - Colocasia esculenta
Sweet Bamboo - Dendrocalamus latiflorus
Giant Bamboo - Dendrocalamus asper
Heptapleurum schizophyllum syn. Schefflera schizophylla
King Anthurium - Anthurium veitchii
Syngonium podophyllum ‘Fantasy’
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Gardening is a healthy addiction to have 👍
Great vision from her parents. Understanding their strengths and a niche in the market. True business acumen
What an awesome video. Thank you Tammy. Loved this. 🙏
So good. Amazing garden. 👏 well done
Good to see Tammy come so far and good for Gardening Australia to have some diversity in gardeners
I love how hardworking the Vietnamese people are. They love good food and the vegetables are always fresh. Salute to your grandma. =)
Quiet fascinated to see ur lovely garden as well as bamboo cultivation.We Assamese community of North east India use bamboo shoot in variety dishes.
This is amazing
Lovely video, thanks
Bamboo farm looks absolutely amazing. Something about bamboo that has a calming effect on me.
That was lovely!
Amazing video, thanks for sharing💚💚💚💚💚💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
Great show people 💯💯💯 stay strong 💪💪💪😊😊😊
Great video ! いいね！
Vietnamese ❤️
Wow!! Finally a minority group in Gardening Australia.
What are you talking about? Gardening Australia include all minorities. Stop trying to create drama. It’s insulting to all those on the show including the minorities you’re attempting to use for clout.
You don't even watch Gardening Australia lmao
Great vision from her parents. Understanding their strengths and a niche in the market. True business acumen