On the menu
Repeated lockdowns with little or no notice can be both unsettling and exhausting. We need to be keeping up our stocks of healthy food as well as the treats! Shelves in supermarkets have been thin on some vegetable staples and those with a good vege garden and a plan will be glad as even a little patch of seasonal veges can be a big boon.
For those in Auckland lock downs have been both more frequent and longer. This is even more reason to use whatever space you have to grow some of the easy and useful vegetables you enjoy eating.
Everlasting spinach is one of the easiest and good for that ‘green smoothie’ as a great way to get an immune system boost. Sugar Snaps grow super well in spring and yield a continuous supply of pods which are super tasty in Thai dishes, stir fries or salads. Sprouting broccoli is one of the most useful of greens, producing little sprouts just enough for dinner for weeks, but it can go to seed very quickly in warmer areas. Simply pick and pop in the fridge which will keep it well for a few days until you’re ready to eat it.
There is a certainty about planting edibles. You know that in the time it takes to go from seedling to harvest, you should have lots of food that does not require you to go near a scary supermarket and can be picked so fresh it is still oozing goodness.
‘Epic Fails’ lead to solutions
Don’t be scared of the odd set back. We learn far more from these. Simply adjust next time you plan your planting! All sorts can go wrong, a recent experience planting leeks too close to a boundary, lead to the discovery that Welsh horses appropriately rather like them! Cattle too will ‘top’ anything in reach for rural gardeners.
It’s great to talk to others in your area on what grows well for them, when, and those little tricks like covering your vege garden with insect netting when you spot the first white butterfly. This saves a lot of spraying and washing to extract those pesky caterpillars! Sharing both solutions and surpluses is what it’s all about in this new and very different Covid world.
10-Sep-2021
Lesson learnt!
In the Garden
