Ask me how much I've spent on groceries at the supermarket over the last fortnight. Go on. Ask me. $300? $200? $100? $50? $10?Nope. Not a brass razoo.
Not a gold, silver, zinc, aluminium or tin razoo either.
It's true.
Well, it's sort of true.
I didn't go to the supermarket last week because I was at Fieldays, where I fell off the self-sufficiency wagon in spectacular fashion. Show me a deep-fried hot dog and I'll show you a gardening editor who can scoff it down in less than 10 seconds, stopping only for a glug or two of Coca Cola.
Oh the hypocrisy! There I was, happily autographing copies of our latest special collector's edition, Homegrown 2: Live off your land for less (available now at supermarkets, bookstores or from our online store) on our stand, offering free advice and cajoling novice gardeners to start sowing seeds and growing food... and all the while what I was really wondering was whether to have a hamburger next, or another hotdog.
At Fieldays I ate every type of junk food you can think of - hot chips, chicken kebabs, Chinese noodles, two Danish delight waffle ice creams, a tub of fudge... and I stopped at KFC in Huntly on the way down, and again on the way back. Shame on me. (And gosh, isn't that processed potato and gravy sinfully delicious??)
I can't claim any moral high ground since, either. It was my birthday at the weekend and I scoffed a bowl of nachos at the Kings Plant Barn cafe for brunch, but as I didn't actually pay for them (it was my mother's shout), I figure I can't be held responsible.
Ditto the popcorn and choc top I ate last night during the movie preview of Grow Your Own, a charming, heart-warming British film about allotments (go see it... it opens on Thursday); and the meal our team ate at Wagamama afterwards.
As I was at Fieldays on Saturday, I also missed my weekly trip to the city farmers' market, so I went with my cousin to the Avondale markets on Sunday instead. I felt a vege-buying binge coming on. (If you can buy carbon credits, surely you should be able to buy fresh food credits to cancel out all the processed muck you've eaten?)
If you live in Auckland and you've never been to the Avondale markets, make plans to go next Sunday. It's quite the culinary adventure. Half the stuff that's sold there I've never seen before, let alone grown. The stallholders offer all sorts of Asian greens, herbs and spices, massive melons, giant radishes, subtropical fruit... and all the standard stuff, but at dirt-cheap prices. I spent $9.30 and bought one cauliflower ($1.80), a HUGE cabbage ($1.40), an 80c knob of fresh ginger, three red capsicums for $2 (I still have yellow ones in my garden but I wanted to make a spicy Thai soup with my lemon grass, chillies and kaffir lime leaves), a $2 bag of organic limes (I've eaten all mine) and a can of coconut milk for $1.30.
Ok. I've confessed my sins. Back to self-sufficiency again in earnest now.
PS. Does anyone know if you can make leek and potato soup using spring onions instead? I've got about 300 spring onions to get through, but my leeks are still skinnier than a pencil.
2 Comments: Click here to add your thoughts:
Just thought I'd let you know that it's not just NZers in NZ that you've got growing-their-own (although must admit it's really my Mum who has inspired me). We have just bought a house in London and I picked my first carrot last night. Unfortunately it was the same size as the radish I picked but one step at at time. I've been laughing at your blogs and the readers' comments about possum traps. Hooray, I thought, I don't have to deal with them. Then I got home last night and all my strawberries have been neatly bitten off - I have now declared war on all squirrels.
My Mum has always grown vegetables and now I'm starting to do the same. I can't wait to come home and expand my growing repertoire (mmm feijoas).
I reckon spring onions would work fine as a substitute for leeks, I will often use them in soups when I have plenty!
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