I like growing food. I believe passionately that home grown is best - free of nasty chemicals, and as fresh as it gets, plus growing your own is a way of being less reliant on *the system*. But I have a problem. And today it occurred to me there is a parallel in the housekeeping word. Are you familiar with the 3 Sisters - Mt Washmore, Mt Drymore and Mt Foldmore? I've always found it easy (if never ending!) to wash dirty laundry and hang it out to dry, then bring it in. But the folding and putting away stage is something many of us put off - and the pile grows and grows.
In the garden, I find I like growing things. I don't mind looking after them. I don't mind harvesting, but it's the next stage that is my problem....IF I harvest things and bring them in, then I have to DO something with them. Unfortunately, unlike clean laundry, harvested produce can't just sit in a pile for weeks until I get around to it...it will deteriorate, in some cases quickly and messily, if not properly stored or processed. It's not like I don't know how - I spent years storing or preserving every bit of fresh produce I could get my hands on to feed my growing family - and I derived a great deal of satisfaction from it. But these days I just seem to have an attitude problem - an "I don't wanna" attitude. Maybe it's because my family is fast growing up and doesn't go through as much food as they used to. Maybe it's because our diets have become more complicated due to health issues and food sensitivities. Maybe it's just being too busy. I know part of the problem is after I process the food I have to find somewhere to PUT it - always a major challenge in this little old house with minimal storage.
In the garden, I find I like growing things. I don't mind looking after them. I don't mind harvesting, but it's the next stage that is my problem....IF I harvest things and bring them in, then I have to DO something with them. Unfortunately, unlike clean laundry, harvested produce can't just sit in a pile for weeks until I get around to it...it will deteriorate, in some cases quickly and messily, if not properly stored or processed. It's not like I don't know how - I spent years storing or preserving every bit of fresh produce I could get my hands on to feed my growing family - and I derived a great deal of satisfaction from it. But these days I just seem to have an attitude problem - an "I don't wanna" attitude. Maybe it's because my family is fast growing up and doesn't go through as much food as they used to. Maybe it's because our diets have become more complicated due to health issues and food sensitivities. Maybe it's just being too busy. I know part of the problem is after I process the food I have to find somewhere to PUT it - always a major challenge in this little old house with minimal storage.
But when I see all the wonderful produce we are blessed with, I feel guilty for my attitude! I know I should be grateful (and I am!) to have room to grow and fresh produce available. Processing, serving, or storing it is just a part of that.
So I need to overcome this attitude problem. Anyone have any practical suggestions? My favourite fantasy at the moment is to find some lovely person/couple who wants to live in, process all my produce and take part in the chores, in return for food and board. Or maybe someone who wants to live out, come and help a couple of days a week, in return for a share of the food. Or to find seeds for magical plants that deliver themselves pre-packaged ready to store on shelves that they grow themselves. Or just to put my big-girl britches on, find a few extra hours in the day, and get everything done. Not sure which of the above is the biggest fantasy! ;-)
So I need to overcome this attitude problem. Anyone have any practical suggestions? My favourite fantasy at the moment is to find some lovely person/couple who wants to live in, process all my produce and take part in the chores, in return for food and board. Or maybe someone who wants to live out, come and help a couple of days a week, in return for a share of the food. Or to find seeds for magical plants that deliver themselves pre-packaged ready to store on shelves that they grow themselves. Or just to put my big-girl britches on, find a few extra hours in the day, and get everything done. Not sure which of the above is the biggest fantasy! ;-)
Meanwhile, I did roll up my sleeves enough today to go and pick a few things. (See photo above - the marrows were harvested a while ago but have been sitting in a wheelbarrow waiting for me to deal with them. The rest was picked today). Now to get the wild venison roast rolled up in bacon and into the oven while I go deal with everything I've harvested so far......(see captions below photos for details)
Left: Honey and Pearl Sweetcorn. Middle: Purple, Golden & French dwarf beans. Right: A few pears and apples
The first watermelon I've picked. Some last cucumbers. A few of the wild tomatoes. The container under them is full of dried clary sage seed heads, which I need to separate out. A big basket of fennel seeds - great for making a tea for digestion issues, or to use in various dishes.
Two Buttercup squash off one vine I grew up a ladder. A container of Echinacea seed heads. Some of the marrows I will store - one of them is for seed for next year.
Spaghetti squash - there are a few more on the last vine. Not as many as last year; I planted them very late.
These 6 pumpkins are all from one self-sown vine that popped up in the middle of my garlic patch (from my home-made compost no doubt). I left it to grow since I had not done well planting actual plants this year. Best producer of the lot this season!
Two Queensland Blue Pumpkins. There's one more out on a section of vine that isn't quite done. First year growing these. Not overly impressed with production, but then it hasn't been a great season for curcubits. Total of 3 fruit from two plants.
More marrows - I harvested everything left when the plants all suddenly collectively died, overcome by powdery mildew as they usually are late in the season. Three of the plants, though, have now suddenly put out new leaves and have baby fruit on them. Might be some fresh zucchini in my near future!
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