Geelong gardening guru continues to flourish

BY VINNIE VAN OORSCHOT

GEELONG paramedic Ash Burke has enjoyed life with Ambulance Victoria, but that hasn’t prevented him from flourishing in his other passions.

Four years since starting his Instagram gardening account, ashs.backyardgarden, Mr Burke’s audience has grown to one of the country’s most followed gardening accounts with more than 170,000 followers.

Mr Burke says his interest in gardening arose from his love of the outdoors and finding an outlet to relive stress.

“It’s certainly a way to take my mind off work, which as paramedics can be really important.

“It’s very achievable, when I started the veggie garden I was a paramedic with no horticultural, building or trades experience.

“It started as a bare patch of dirt and now we grow a significant portion of what we eat.

“I’m continually learning, and over the years we’ve been able to create balance by incorporating things like companion planting to avoid the use of any nasty chemicals in the garden.”

Mr Burke joined Ambulance Victoria as an Advanced Life Support (ALS) paramedic 10 years ago.

He has also spent five years working on road in the Grampians and Barwon South West regions and has since moved to into a rosters department role where he is now in a resourcing lead position.

A modest site, Ash’s garden is 70sqm, boasting more than 10 kinds of seasonal vegetables, fruit trees, composting systems, a beehive and chickens.

The rapid size increase of his follower base has taken Mr Burke by surprise.

“I still remember thinking it was unbelievable when there was 100 people following my page,” Mr Burke said.

“Creating the account and getting in front of the camera has been a great opportunity for me to get out of my comfort zone as I’m naturally a quieter and more reserved person.”

As the winter months settle in, Mr Burke says he will remove his remaining summer vegetable with seedlings for winter species to be planted.