I enjoyed your post and thanks for sharing some more of your journey.
This is going to sound quite grand but I’m gardening partly because I enjoy it but also because I want to grow more of our food - I believe that we, as both growers and consumers, need to take back sovereignty of our food system (from global markets and corporates) …. One veggie patch (or small farm) at a time !
Anyways, it’s very good to hear you’re back running and I hope I see you out there sometime. Perhaps you’re planning to try Run the Maine in September?
My father always had a thriving vegetable garden that made a significant contribution to our family of seven’s meals.
It was such a wonderful experience to help shake the sweet corn stalks, pick the vegetables, water, dig the potatoes, and sit on the roof of the shed eating passionfruit picked from the vine growing around me.
After I left home I lived in a rented house owned by an Italian that had a wonderful garden, also home for chooks and bees.
Then decades followed in which I found myself in a difficult relationship and every day was a battle … and no garden.
Later in life I found my feet again and moved from Melbourne where I had a small courtyard garden, to a totally neglected tiny house on a big block of onion weed and agapanthus. I’ve been working on building a garden of flowers, fruit trees, berry canes and vegetables for 10 years and now, at age 75, I’m largely free of anxiety and have a long awaited garden in SW Gippsland in which everything brings mind, body and spirit together.
Growing up my father was a farmer and mother looked after the vegetable and ornamental garden. Later my father planted an orchard. Being immigrants, they grew some less common vegetables in the 1980's like asparagus, celeriac and kohlrabi. So, I have always enjoyed gardening. Unlike my parents where their garden provided most of their vegetables, I use my garden to supplement our diet. I generally grow vegetables/fruit that have much superior flavour grown at home (ie. tomatoes, asparagus, apricots, old fashion nectarines etc.) or plants that self-seed or are perennials, so that I always something edible in garden without having to do too much work (ie. silverbeet, lettuce, kale, parsley, rhubarb etc.) or herbs where you only use small amounts.
I enjoy nurturing plants especially when grown from seed or cuttings, and are always wanting to try something new. A couple of years ago I planted some Tromboncino squash to store and cook like a pumpkin. It didn't taste as good as pumpkins so I haven't grown it again, but you can train the marrows to form some artistic/interesting shapes such as circles or like rams horns. I also tried purple sweet potatoes but only had a good yield the first year. This year I am growing some storage tomatoes from seed that I bought from Useful Seeds (Thanks Duncan for the Seed Supplier information). It will be interesting how long these tomatoes can be stored after the season finishes and to see how they taste.
I love the experimentation that you've been doing in the garden. I like the idea of tomatoes with long storage (although I am a bit dubious about what the flavour might be like). Please keep me posted. I agree the trombos are bland (but they do store well).
Thanks for sharing some of your gardening journey with us.
I garden because that’s what my family has always done. Both sides of my family are gardeners going back at least a couple of generations, so I’ve grown up with it. Some are veggie gardeners, some prefer natives, my grandparents specialized in orchids, and some (like me) are generalists with fingers in lots of planty pies. But we are all gardeners.
I resisted it as a teenager, but the older we get, the more like our parents we become (and I wouldn’t have it any other way)
My grandfather was obsessed with growing orchids, especially native orchids. I'm not the orchid type, but I definitely following in the footsteps of my gardening forebears too.
Hi Duncan,
I enjoyed your post and thanks for sharing some more of your journey.
This is going to sound quite grand but I’m gardening partly because I enjoy it but also because I want to grow more of our food - I believe that we, as both growers and consumers, need to take back sovereignty of our food system (from global markets and corporates) …. One veggie patch (or small farm) at a time !
Anyways, it’s very good to hear you’re back running and I hope I see you out there sometime. Perhaps you’re planning to try Run the Maine in September?
Regards
Lewis
Hi Lewis,
Another great reason to grow your own food (and a very sound and reasonable, rather than grand). Thanks for sharing.
Yes, Run the Maine half marathon is what I'm aiming for.
Happy gardening
Duncan
My father always had a thriving vegetable garden that made a significant contribution to our family of seven’s meals.
It was such a wonderful experience to help shake the sweet corn stalks, pick the vegetables, water, dig the potatoes, and sit on the roof of the shed eating passionfruit picked from the vine growing around me.
After I left home I lived in a rented house owned by an Italian that had a wonderful garden, also home for chooks and bees.
Then decades followed in which I found myself in a difficult relationship and every day was a battle … and no garden.
Later in life I found my feet again and moved from Melbourne where I had a small courtyard garden, to a totally neglected tiny house on a big block of onion weed and agapanthus. I’ve been working on building a garden of flowers, fruit trees, berry canes and vegetables for 10 years and now, at age 75, I’m largely free of anxiety and have a long awaited garden in SW Gippsland in which everything brings mind, body and spirit together.
Hi Ann,
Thanks for sharing your gardening journey. It sounds like a roller-coaster, but I’m glad you’re back on the up.
Good luck and happy gardening
Duncan
Hi Duncan,
Growing up my father was a farmer and mother looked after the vegetable and ornamental garden. Later my father planted an orchard. Being immigrants, they grew some less common vegetables in the 1980's like asparagus, celeriac and kohlrabi. So, I have always enjoyed gardening. Unlike my parents where their garden provided most of their vegetables, I use my garden to supplement our diet. I generally grow vegetables/fruit that have much superior flavour grown at home (ie. tomatoes, asparagus, apricots, old fashion nectarines etc.) or plants that self-seed or are perennials, so that I always something edible in garden without having to do too much work (ie. silverbeet, lettuce, kale, parsley, rhubarb etc.) or herbs where you only use small amounts.
I enjoy nurturing plants especially when grown from seed or cuttings, and are always wanting to try something new. A couple of years ago I planted some Tromboncino squash to store and cook like a pumpkin. It didn't taste as good as pumpkins so I haven't grown it again, but you can train the marrows to form some artistic/interesting shapes such as circles or like rams horns. I also tried purple sweet potatoes but only had a good yield the first year. This year I am growing some storage tomatoes from seed that I bought from Useful Seeds (Thanks Duncan for the Seed Supplier information). It will be interesting how long these tomatoes can be stored after the season finishes and to see how they taste.
Regards,
Gary
Hi Gary,
I love the experimentation that you've been doing in the garden. I like the idea of tomatoes with long storage (although I am a bit dubious about what the flavour might be like). Please keep me posted. I agree the trombos are bland (but they do store well).
Thanks for sharing some of your gardening journey with us.
Happy gardening
Duncan
Glad you’re ok Duncan.
I garden because that’s what my family has always done. Both sides of my family are gardeners going back at least a couple of generations, so I’ve grown up with it. Some are veggie gardeners, some prefer natives, my grandparents specialized in orchids, and some (like me) are generalists with fingers in lots of planty pies. But we are all gardeners.
I resisted it as a teenager, but the older we get, the more like our parents we become (and I wouldn’t have it any other way)
Hi Megan,
My grandfather was obsessed with growing orchids, especially native orchids. I'm not the orchid type, but I definitely following in the footsteps of my gardening forebears too.
Thanks for sharing your journey with us.
Duncan