Vegetables... to grow or not to grow...

That was our question.

The Hubby is NOT a gardener. By any lycraesq cross grain stretch of the imagination. Light reading for the husband is entitled: Tensor Calculus, Relativity and Cosmology. Which makes my brain go cross-eyed. I don't mind a little garden pottering as long as it doesn't involve too much heavily laboured breathing and sweating until I'm a dry husk of myself holding a shovel. If I can wander out to the backyard and turn some soil with a good thunk of the shovel (although I'd probably be using a spade) I'd give it a shot.

Being concerned about the state of our planet and sustainability, I was kinda keen to give the small backyard vegetable patch a bit of a go. That was before I realised our block was mostly rock. With soil that had hardened to rock-like properties. Apparently getting soil (I use that term very loosely and am throwing it in here with gay abandon) in that state into a workable, viable gardening state involves more hard slog than achieving world peace by Wednesday. Doable? Sure. By me? Not anytime soon. I'd rather gnaw off my left hand.

Then I discovered another option. Raised garden beds. Better still... gardens in pots. Golly, I could do that. Armed with my newly acquired knowledge it was time to research what exactly this gardening for a family kitchen caper requires. Apparently quite a bit more time and attention that I'm willing to invest. Planting, thinning, feeding (I have enough pets thank you), protecting (shining armour is far too hot for a sub tropical area), rotating (don't ask!) and starting all over again. Gee... that sounds like far more work and time that I'm really ready to invest at the moment.

Fruit, however, is a different proposition. The local nursery sells dwarf fruit trees! Get out of here! They are so darn cute and I can put them in pots on my front patio. A bit of a water with the hose, keep an eye on them for invading armies intent on mounting a siege and starving them out, and you can pick fresh fruit straight off the tree. Just by stepping out the front door. And those of us a little on the height challenged side won't need a death-defying sprint up a ladder or have to wait until The 6'3" Hubby got home  to grab an apple. Best of all, the kids can get their own! Now THAT type of gardening appeals to me.

Let's face it. Not everyone's cut out to be a Farmer. The same as not everyone's cut out to be an Astro Physicist. If you can't or just don't want to be fully self-sufficient, don't be. Do as much or as little as you like and buy your produce from a local, environmentally conscious farmer who DOES. ♥

Fresh Produce!

I've spent the past year or so sourcing fresh produce to eat and cook with. The supermarket can provide a convenient place to get all your shopping needs in one place but quite often the quality isn't up to scratch, it costs more and the fresh produce has been handled by delivery people, staff and many customers mostly resulting in bruised, mishandled produce.

The local Fuit and Veg shop is in the same complex as the supermarket. Their produce is always fresh, great quality and cheaper. The supermarket trucks in their produce from another State. Let me explain something to you. Much of the produce is grown in our State, transported to another State where it is bought by the supermarket buyers and then transported BACK to our State for sale in the supermarket. That is INSANE!! The produce is either very old or picked green so that it has no flavour. It also makes the cost of our produce far greater than it needs to be.

Ask your local fruit and veg shop owner where they get their produce from. Our local shop gets their produce at the local markets. In the same city. You aren't paying extra for added transportation and the produce is fresher because it hasn't been shipped across the country twice. They are able to take advantage of any growers sales. An extra bonus is that you can buy very ripe produce that is perfectly fine for saucing, stewing, roasting or blending for a fraction of the original price.

You cannot put a price on personal service. Looking for slightly riper or greener fruit? Perhaps something not on display? Chances are the person serving you is the owner and willing to go the extra mile for the customers. Our local fruit & veg shop offers an online ordering service. You can choose to collect the prepared order which has been packed for you or if the order is > $30 they will deliver it to you. For FREE!! Tell me that isn't an added extra for families struggling to find extra hours in their day.

Fresh Produce!! Try it. You'll like it. :)