Paul West - Homegrown: A year of growing, cooking and eating

A year of growing, cooking and eating

Introduction c h a p t e r o n e c h a p t e r t w o

Thank you c h a p t e r t h r e e c h a p t e r f o u r

To the wa ter, may you al way s show me that no pat h is fixe d To the land, ma y you al way s be there t o ca tch my fe et To the wind, ma y you al way s spread the see ds of chan ge To the fire, ma y you al way s war m me on the cold est nigh ts

Introduction The old say ing go es tha t h omegrow n fo od al way s tast es bett er, bu t hav e you ever wondere d why t hat is so, or if it s actu ally even true? What is it about fo od that weve produced u nder our own st eam, with the help of the soil, s eeds, sun and wa ter , tha t g ets us all m isty eye d and prone to waxing ly rical about our harv est to anyone in earshot? Given tha t w e live in an ag e w here most th ings c an be ac quired a t the push of a button, why on earth w ould we spend our spar e time out in the ele ments, nur turing our fr agile vegg ie pat ches, in the hope that they mi ght just may be provide u s with a smal l harve st in the months to c ome. Wha t i s it? What is it that makes us c ontinue to sink our hands into the soil, g et up at daw n to sta nd on the end of a hos e or look eage rly through se ed ca ta logues in the depths of winte r? It can be hard work, youre up a gain st the va gar ies of the we ath er, al ong w ith a cast of other c reat ures tha t w ould lo ve no thing mor e than to fea st on the fruits of y our labour , and a t t he end of these trials an d tribulat ions, there is no guara ntee o f a harve st. I have a few tho ughts, court esy of man y ponderous hours wandering t hrough the garden, s troking m y chin while looking sag ely into the distance . T o start with, g ardening its elf is an act of hope. Th eres a lot of bad ne ws out there and sometimes l ife can seem like its full of doom and gloom, bu t when yo u push a see d into the g round, y ou do so in the hope that it will gro w and th at youl l be ther e to see it do so. Garden ing also allo ws us all to become nurture rs not eve ryo ne will hav e children or pets t o look af ter , or work in the care secto r, but anyo ne can ca re for pl ants. Y ou ll st art to notice wh ether they are happy or sad, youll watch in won der as t hey grow and change , and youll feel jubi lant when t hey full their life s promise and gift you with a harv est. That proce ss of nurt uring a pla nt from see d to harv est also allows us to foste r another wonderf ul raft of emotio ns: the pr ide and j oy that come from delayi ng gratica tion. If you pushed a but ton o n a wall an d a carr ot ploppe d out, while it may be n ovel, it s hardly what youd call sati sfying. On the other han d, planti ng a carrot s eed in the patch on a sunn y day, waiting for days wi th bated b reath fo r the rs t leave s to emerge , watering , feed ing and wat ching as the carro t grows, then nal ly pulling th e swollen root from th e soil, is immensely sa tisfyin g from start to nish.

Gardening also makes you a card-c arrying member of o ne of the friendliest, most dow n to eart h commu nities of g o-g ette rs out th ere. And if you need any proof ab out the l ongevity boosting quali ties of ga rdening, g o and che ck out the ne xt me eting of yo ur local ga rdening club. I d wa ger th at the aver age age wi ll be 70+ and that yo ud be hard pre ssed to nd a more lively room of septuag enarians anyw here. While there a re no guar antees th at homegrow n fruit and v eggies will tas te bet ter t han the o nes you buy fro m the super market, when the planets align and yo ur seaso n has b een more n urture than neglect , the t aste of something homegrow n with love is bett er than a nyt hing you possibly could hav e imagine d. In addition to all th ese qualities, gardening is the ultimate form of hu man moveme nt. Y ou re walking, b ending down , reaching up, carr ying loads and ge tting some fresh air an d sunshine while you re at it th is moveme nt is what ou r bodies are designed t o do. Forg et the t readmill, growing ve ggies is where it s at, a nd gardening is only the rst p art of the st ory . It would be foolish to explore wh ats in the se cret sauc e of homegrown food wit hout spending a bit of ti me in another favouri te habita t of mine, th e kitche n. Cooking with and eatin g our homegr own produce is in many wa ys a simpl e act, but its a power ful source of connect ion for us humans. Co nnection to the land that you ten d and your e xperience of the tr ansition thro ugh the seas ons that br ought you to the po int where you can lite rally enjoy the frui ts of your labour . Connect ion to ou r nearest and dear est as we sp end time t ogethe r around the table, reminiscing abo ut times p ast a s well a s creat ing new memories. Sharing mea ls with frie nds and family allows us to create ou r own cult ure and to bett er unders tand our place in th e world. It nourishes us i n mind, bo dy and so ul and helps us to nour ish life a ll around us. I have writ ten t his book t o help gui de you through a year in th e garden and kitc hen, to oer inspira tion to ge t your han ds in the soil and some of your own h omegrown food on th e table. It is stru ctured around t he four class ic seasons o f tempera te Austr alia and within each season I ve shared plan ting guides f or the m ost popular ve ggies, simple gard en project s and delicious meal s to whip u p with th e spoils of your hard wo rk. Most of the gard en project s are designed t o help you crea te a more pr oductive patch and grow more ve g, whether its by protec ting yo ur garden fro m the hea t, kee ping out pes ts o r improving the qualit y of yo ur soil. I ve tried to make the p roject s as approachabl e as po ssible, so while yo u may need a trip to the local nursery or hardwar e store for some project s, t here are others th at youll be able t o do with items th at are alread y in your house or she d, and l ots t hat are simple enough to get the kids invo lved in. When it co mes to th e recipes, you wont see any exoti c ingredients that you ca nt nd a t your local supermarke t, but I can promise yo u simplicity , c omfort and avo ur . Every dish is a celebratio n of fresh pr oduce, s o while the re is a litt le bit of meat, it gene rally tak es a back seat to vege tables and fruit. I openly enc ourag e you to ta ke creati ve licenc e with t hese reci pes and to sw ap and ch ange ingr edients as you see t. Most import antly, I hope th ese dishes pl ay a small role i n the creat ion of me mories with your family and friend s, whether they be i n the kitchen or around t he table. I am so gra teful for t he many am azing experiences that I have had t hrough gro wing and cooki ng my own fo od, and I know that a similar journey awaits many of you. Whether you are new to gardening or have bee n tending your patch fo r years , I hop e you ca n nd inspiration, ideas and helpful t ips within this book, and that you enjoy reading th ese page s as much as I have enjoyed wr iting them. Now, if youl l excuse me , Im o to get my han ds in the soil an d to st art thinking about dinner .