Moving to Australia from India more than 10 years ago, Biji Rejimon and Reji Nanu took a part of their past life with them: the vegie garden.
It is unlike a traditional garden of produce, and Mr Nanu is passionate about keeping his plantings unique and reminiscent of his home country.
Almost three years in the making, a spread of garden beds in his north Shepparton backyard holds an array of vegetables more likely found in India than Australia.
Biji Rejimon said her husband Reji’s love of gardening bloomed from a place of homesickness.
“Everything sort of reminds us being back home,” Mrs Rejimon said.
“I think he feels a sense of comfort when he’s doing his gardening and growing his own type of vegetables, he’s so proud of it as well — all of our friends could not really believe it once it was all done.
“When people come, they are sort of gobsmacked.”
The couple thrives on being as self-sufficient as possible, with the garden as rich in variety as it is in produce.
Beds are ripe with amaranth, turmeric plants, snake gourd, taru roots and Mr Nanu’s personal favourite, snake beans, along with shallots — supplying them with 30kg worth last harvest.
All ingredients are used frequently in their menu of curries, soups and stir-frys, along with myriad alternative uses such as skincare and ointments.
Although Mr Nanu works full-time, he tends to his garden every chance he gets — and according to Mrs Rejimon, his love for and dedication to his garden is clear.
“Reji is always there; I think if you go into your garden every day — and just to be there — I don't know what science this is, but the plants will grow really, really nicely,” Mrs Rejimon said with a laugh.
“They seem really happy.”
A plant that holds a special place in both hearts is the flourishing golden shower tree, more commonly found in Queensland than in Victoria.
“We never thought it would survive here, but this is the fourth year,” Mrs Rejimon said.
“The significance of that plant is that it always flowers when the harvest season happens at home, it’s a symbol of prosperity.”
The couple originally hails from Kerala in India, and are going on 20 years of marriage.
Mrs Rejimon said the move to Australia was one not made lightly.
“Here, if you want to move to somewhere it's easy, you have to find a job and then move houses or rent, everything is nearby; but back home, it's very different,” she said.
“When you work in public sector jobs it's not easy to be working near your house, you have to be transferred every three years so we were never together, our son was often looked after by my mother.
“We needed to be together.”
Mrs Rejimon made the move in 2008 with Mr Nanu following two years later.
She remembers their migration as being challenging, but inspiring.
“We really had to push forward for life, because our son was only very young, we were only quite young,” she said.
“I don’t know if we’d be able to do it today.”
As the transition pushes past a decade, the couple still feels the struggle of missing loved ones.
“At the end of the day, it is hard but it’s good, it’s really good, you have a job and we’ve changed a lot of things for people, we’ve been lucky,” Mrs Rejimon said.