Homegrown Food

I mentioned to a friend the other day that I haven't been buying any fruit or vege this year (other than potato, onion & carrot) - & she was shocked & wanted to know what we're eating.

Seasonal - that's what. Everything & anything that is seasonally growing in our garden & surrounds, and not much else.

I've only bought carrots & onions as I've never successfully grown them, and up until now potatoes although we just harvested our first season of potatoes too. Occaisonally we buy bananas for baking...other than that, we've just been eating what we grow in our own garden.

It's truely seasonal, and let's be honest, somewhat repetitive! But it pushes us to the limits of creativity finding new & interesting ways to eat the same foods that are abundant.

So what are we eating?

~ Apples - lots of them, fresh, in crumble, on top of brekkie, bottling

~ Feijoas - millions of them, everyway incl homebrewing

~ Pears - a few giants from 2yr old trees

~ Guava - just starting to ripen

~ Silverbeet - a solid staple

~ Beans - the last of the green & purple climbers

~ Kale

~ Perpetual Beet

~ Beetroot leaves

~ Red Amaranth

~ Magnenta Spreen & Fat Hen

~ Chickweed / Dandelion / Dead Nettle

~ Clovers / Fuschias / Pineapple Sage

~ Spring Onions / Chives

~ Sage / Rosemary / Thyme

~ Parsley / Rocket / Mint

~ Nasturtium leaves & flowers

~ Lemons

~ Kaffir Lime leaves

~ Chilli

~ Capsicum

~ Cucumbers - the last of them

~ Garlic

We have never gone hungry, and there is still SO much food in the garden / lawn. I know that if we did feel like we were running low, there would be ample edible 'weeds' to keep us going (learn about these in my Foraging Guides).

ABUNDANCE everywhere.

Many people think they could never grow that much food, but to be honest, it's not so much about growing lots of food/varieties, but just using what you've got, and not buying out of season produce at the supermarket.

I have to admit I walked into a shop recently to buy ginger (the one thing on our shopping list) and almost grabbed a bag of mandarins before I stopped myself, we have loads of fruit already & don't need more...we'll have to wait until our mandarins start ripening in June...