So does anyone else on here grow their own vegetables, salad and fruit? I've done it for the last few years and it's hugely rewarding, plus - you'll never, ever believe just how good this simple stuff can taste when it was still in the ground 30 minutes before you eat it. Growing your own isn't a difficult thing to do unless you're in Death Valley, Alaska, the northern end of the midwest (Minnesota/North Dakota/Michigan), Siberia, the Sahara or the Moon, and you don't need much ground area to keep you well-fed, vitamin-and-mineral-pumped, pesticide-free and GM-free. On this topic - nature is a truly wonderful thing. Last year, my plot became totally overwhelmed with greenfly, who were busy chowing down on literally everything I was growing and destroying it. I reluctantly decided to capitulate to chemicals, and visited my local seed supplier to buy pesticide. But there's an old guy with encyclopaedic knowledge who works there - he disappeared into the back of the store after I'd told him of my problem. He re-emerged with a small bag containing hundreds of live ladybugs. "These will fix everything for you". He was right - two days later I had no greenfly, and very fat, very well-fed ladybugs with greenfly juice stains all over their lips.
Excusing the fact that my strawberry crop has been decimated by the local bird population and is currently pretty pathetic (The 4 in the picture were all they left me - I put some netting over them now) - here's my own tomatoes, spinach, watercress, rocket and boiled beetroot, plus home-grown potato, spring onion and chive salad all fetched from the garden a short while ago, accompanied by a nice fillet of beef from my own cow.
That last part about the cow may have been a lie ...... [big grin]
By the time you read this - it will be long gone, eased nicely down by a stellar Syrah from your fine countrymen in the Napa Valley. Another huge and welcome bonus is that wives and girlfriends often seem to get super-interested and heavily involved in this pastime, leaving us guys free to do way more important stuff. Such as woodworking, fixing up old cars, fishing, watching football on TV and drinking Syrah. And Rioja. And Merlot.
Try it. You put seeds in the ground, you add water, and food grows. What's not to like?
for that…that really is Southern. [smile]
. The steak was absolutely delicious. It was super tender!
