Deep in the suburban sprawl of Shepparton’s Boulevard Estate, Leo and Lisa Ladas have taken a slither of their Greek heritage and planted it in their backyard.
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Mr and Mrs Ladas have lived in Australia for more than 50 years, migrating soon after their wedding in Greece in 1970.
After living on the Greek island of Lesbos, the couple is no stranger to verdant countryside.
The property hosts an array of plants.
Stepping over the threshold visitors are greeted with a forest of house plants, before finding hundreds of succulents spanning the backyard and side of the property, most the result of Mrs Ladas’ work.
In a corner of the property lays Mr Ladas’ pride and joy, his vegetable garden.
“Leo is always saying to everybody, ‘Look how much she’s got and look how much I’ve got,’,” Mrs Ladas said with a laugh.
Mr and Mrs Ladas work separately on sections of the garden, teaming up when it comes to using the produce in the kitchen with Mrs Ladas’ cooking skills.
While the couple is known for fronting a number of takeaway shops in Shepparton, Mr Ladas also has a lengthy history in farming.
From a young age Mr Ladas has had a knack for growing produce, one he won’t be letting go of anytime soon.
The vegetable patch is complete with rows of cos lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, chillies and the Ladas speciality, green beans.
“There is nothing better than these beautiful beans,” Mr Ladas said.
Mrs Ladas chimed in with a laugh.
“People make fun of us because we have a lot of beans, we eat them fresh or dry,” she said.
“We have friends that make a bit of fun by calling him ‘the bean man’, but we love them, they’re so good for you.”
Turning 80 this month, it wouldn’t be a shock if Mr Ladas’ beans had some youthful powers to them.
With his sprightly energy and passion for gardening, Mr Ladas tends to his crops daily, watering his plants each night and ensuring they’re thriving.
All of which are skills he’s learnt from a lifetime of nurturing plants, through work and love.
“Back in the old country, we used to be potato growers,” he said.
“Many years ago, when we first came to Shepparton I said I could grow potatoes in Kyabram and they didn’t believe me.
“I said ‘you come back in three months and you’ll find out’.”
True to this word, Mr Ladas’ potatoes started to grow. In no time they were flowering magnificent blooms, a signifier they were soon ready to be harvested.
As he was working away, he said a line of cars began forming outside the farm.
“I went out there and I said, ‘can I help anybody?’ and one man says, ‘we’ve come to buy some flowers’,” Mr Ladas said.
“I laughed and said, ‘we don’t sell flowers, they’re potatoes’.”
Moving from a farm with hectares of space 10 years ago, together the couple has cultivated a space full of life at home in Shepparton North.
By wasting no time, the very first day they took over the home Mr Ladas was outside turning over the soil to prepare for his garden of riches.
Which, according to Mr Ladas, is the key to having a successful garden.
“Just have a good soil, never forget your plants or to give them a water,” he said.
Shepparton News journalist