I blame those cooking competitions like Masterchef and the Superfood touts, but suddenly humble vegetables like parsnips cost $ 9.99, the standard price for a lowly cabbage is $5 and even at the height of the season, zucchini sold for $ 7.99. I am not sure what do about the rising price of other staples of the impoverished such as lamb shanks and soup bones (osso bucco) - maybe plant a cow?, but I have begun to garden.
I am now the proud owner of a small plot in a community garden and it is starting to show promise. The broad beans are up, the kale has yielded a few leaves and the broccoli are heading nicely. I have so many seedlings of Broccoli and Silverbeet that I have been giving them away. Even the weeds are good eating and probably add a few much needed vitamins to the winter food supply. And yes, I have planted parsnips.
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| Community garden - one of several springing up around Hobart |
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| My plot in April - it looks better now. See below |
I am not the only one with a sudden urge to plant something. While suburbanites can presumably dig up their lawns, many of the little old cottages in Hobart don't have room for gardens and nor do most flat dwellers, so their occupants have come up with creative alternatives. There are footpath gardeners, nature strip gardeners, pot and terrace gardeners, wall and hanging gardens. These are just a few that caught my eye as I have been walking around. Perhaps they will inspire someone else to take up a trowel and get planting.
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| Nature Strip Garden |
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| Footpath Garden |
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| Another Footpath Garden |
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| Pot and Baskets | | |
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| Lawns be damned and a move towards the vertical |
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| Along the fence |
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| Saw this lovely set up in a new lifestyle shop recently - has everything you might need to make your own. I almost came out with a couple of bee hives. |
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| My patch today |
Harvested my first broccoli today. OK now broccoli is selling for $4.95 a Kilo in the shops, but who cares. Vengeance is mine.
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