In the midst of all the turmoil going on around us some things remain constant, and for that I am thankful. We seem to be surrounded by uncertainty whichever way we turn.
It may be natural disasters of flood, drought, earthquakes and cyclones, the unrest we see in the traditional troublespots of the Middle East or less expected but no less traumatic violence seen in the running battles in London and other major cities in Britain.
Today, I was doing my paid work from home but I managed to sneak in an hour in the garden. I picked the beetroot and in its place I planted out 12 of the strongest bok choy seedlings which I have grown from seed. I usually buy punnets of seedlings as I simply do not have the time to dedicate to raising seedlings at the moment but this was an exception and they have been a great success so far.
I also picked other things from the garden and here it is spread all over the kitchen bench waiting for me to weave my magic and turn them into nourishing meals.
The pumpkin didn’t make it into the photo – it is already in the slow-cooker, being turned into pumpkin soup.
The garden does not get a great deal of attention but we still manage to grow quite a bit of our own food. I know that it has not been sprayed with chemicals, travelled halfway around the world, been kept in cold-storage or picked when nowhere near ripe. All of these things add up to real, full-flavoured produce which often bears little resemblance to their counterparts from the shops which are lacking in flavour. Apart from the obvious cost savings these are the things that making growing our own food worthwhile. We also have the knowledge that if ever things get really tough we could spend our days growing and preparing our own food to eat.
Although we have a small acreage, area we have for food production could easily fit into a good-sized suburban backyard. The only exception is the avocado tree which is enormous. Even if you do not have a backyard or are renting your home, there are many ways that you can grow some vegetables.
This is an old esky that the drain hole plug had broken as well as one of the lid attachments. I removed the lid and drilled some large holes in the base. I plan to grow some more of the bok choy in this, but more importantly, it will be useful for growing lettuce during the summer. I will be able to move it out of the hottest part of the garden and into some semi-shade when required and also put it under the house to avoid the lettuce becoming water-logged during our heavy summer rains.
Do you grow any fruit or vegetables? Do you use any containers?
organised castle 
Hi Fairy. I have been fairly good with vegie growing in the past 5 yrs or so, but am sad to be losing my vegie plot this year. It has to go, to make way for the new subdivision. However, I will still grow what I can, in a very small patch next to the house and in containers. In the past year I have grown a ton of silverbeet, haha, a few interesting looking potatoes, about 3 months’ supply of onions, spring onions, tomatoes (not the best crop I have ever had), lettuces, capsicums, chillies, and harvested around 20 butternut pumpkins. We also have a Gravenstein apple tree which is 7 yrs old and produced fruit for the first time this year! Exciting! Of course, we have our 2 plum trees and one damson, and a prolific grapefruit which is not really edible. For the first time we are growing brussel sprouts and leeks but haven’t seen anything on them yet. In the smaller area I hope to continue the silverbeet, onions, spring onions, tomatoes and lettuces, plus will try for zucchini, chillies and capsicum. I love home grown and get a real thrill out of sharing them with the family. My daughter has nectarines and lemons, too, so that helps with the variety.
Hi Pat
It must be hard to lose your vegie plot but there will be other benefits of the subdivision. Well done on planning to continue growing on a smaller scale. Like you, there are only 2 of us here at home so it really does not take a lot to make a significant contribution to you meals through home-grown produce. We have a grapefruit tree which is absolutely loaded with fruit. We planted it because The Duke has them for breakfast. I really should learn to try them, too. I juice them and freeze the juice for him, too. If we don’t have grapefruit I have to buy grapefruit juice for him!