1. I am the personality type that likes things done yesterday.
2. I have limited gardening experience.
3. I am obsessed with really (really) good food.
4. I really don't like insincerity.
5. I love connectedness.
This list could go on but I will stop it there and elaborate on why these five confessions are related to my week in the garden.
1. I came home from our holiday so full of ideas and excitement. I wanted to immediately convert my poor neglected garden into a space full of delicious food. There were three little things that I needed to acknowledge. We are in the middle of summer and we have limited water and this was something that certainly couldn't be done yesterday!
2. I have a handful of books I refer to regularly as my gardening resources. I also have a couple gardening websites which are specific to this area, which are also a wealth of knowledge.
I ask a lot of questions and take mental notes whenever I can. There's nothing quite like hands-on experience is there? I decided that although it wasn't the perfect time to start planting if I planted some seedlings (they had a much better chance than a little seed), gave them lots of water, and some shade cloth maybe they would be ok...
I watched the crazy weather forecast of Central Victoria and decided that when there were a few mild days I would plant! Very little confidence. Just plant! I planted some beetroot, spinach, silver beet, beans, and cucumber seedlings. I also planted some rocket, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale seeds and are lovingly watering and talking to them when I have the chance. Will they survive? Will they grow into delicious vegetables? Are they positioned in the right place? How is my soil? Too much water or not enough? Too early or too late? Too many or too few? Will anyone buy them? I don't know. As I regularly say to my beautiful children, "you're not going to know until you try".
3. Our garden is about our family and our community. We are a food obsessed family. We talk about food ALOT. We watch a lot of food documentaries. Our family holiday destinations are decided around food. Now that we can grow most of our own food the obsession has deepened. I love my garden so much for that.
4. Maybe its not quite insincerity but those seedlings I planted last week I bought from a few local nurseries. As I was planting them, I was so happy and relieved to have some things growing in the garden but I also felt slightly uncomfortable. I realised that I want to be sincere in not only how I am growing but what I am growing. I want to grow honest, wholesome, real food, which to me means, I want to use seeds that are untreated, non-hybrid, non genetically modified. This is very important to me. I have a box full of beautiful seeds and have started to collect seeds from the garden that I would like to use again. I want to establish the best variety for our farm and the most delicious!
5. My garden this week has given me the opportunity to connect with my thoughts and feelings around how to grow and what to grow, it has deepened my connection to this new project, it has deepened my connection with the season and our environment, it has deepened my connection to my family's food, our friends food, and our communities food.
It's been a wonderful week,
Tash x
