Seed savers - a couple's search for healthy garden crops has nurtured a global community

Part of the mutual attraction when Jude Smith and Michel Fanton met in 1981 was the interest each had in gardening and self-sufficiency. “Jude was intelligent and very warm but also practical and keen to make a difference,” recalls Michel. “I instantly felt she was a soul mate.”

“I noticed Michel because he seemed like a forest spirit,” Jude says. “He had panpipes with him, which he played during breaks. He was wise, knowledgeable and energetic.”

Although the two were drawn to one another, there were hurdles to overcome: Michel had left his job in the delivery arm of a publishing house, while Jude was scheduled to return to her high-school job in Adelaide, teaching social sciences and English.

Although they were making a home on a 600-hectare property on the edge of rain forest near Lismore, New South Wales, Michel found he was going to have to dig deeper to completely win over Jude’s heart. “She demanded only authentic French cooking,” he recalls. For Michel, this meant growing his own essential ingredients from scratch.

“To make her a summer ratatouille niçoise, I went on a search for seeds for a special meaty tomato that cooks well; a capsicum that is both red and green; round, flavoursome courgettes de Nice; and a strong purple garlic. It was pure love that made me do that!”

“Watching Michel go to all that effort to source the plants and tend them deepened our growing bond,” says Jude. “When I finally tasted the food, it was incredibly rich and had a fullness and depth of flavour that made it more satisfying and also more filling.”

For months, the couple rose every day at 5am to establish a half-hectare garden, as well as work on an orchard of fruit and nut trees. Soon, their turmeric, ginger, 130 varieties of tomato, mandarins, macadamias, pecans and custard apples were thriving, along with spices such as cinnamon.

But no matter how attentive they were, their cucumbers, rock melons and pumpkins continued to succumb to mildew in the hot, wet climate.

“We don’t believe in using pesticide, and we didn’t want to give up on growing those cucurbits, because we love their taste, so we found a gardener, Joe Connolly, who showed us the way forward,” says Michel.

Joe offered them seeds from locally grown cucumbers, watermelons and pumpkin varieties, and changed the focus of Jude’s and Michel’s lives.

“It really opened my eyes,” says Jude. “We had previously bought all our seeds in packets. Now, I realised that adaptation to the climate and conditions of the area meant that local seeds were easier to grow and resulted in more successful produce. So I started saving my own seeds and networking with local gardeners.”