KEY POINTS:
It shouldn't take an economic meltdown to encourage people to grow a few veges, but we might as well take advantage of the financial crisis.
Growing your own greens is a popular topic at the moment and hopefully it will continue to be, regardless of what else is
going on, economically. After all, it's not just about saving pennies it is also about the nutritional value of homegrown food.
Picking salad greens from your own garden, giving them a quick rinse then popping them in a plastic bag (recycled, of course) in the fridge will help you realise how long the freshest veges will keep compared with the supermarket alternatives that seem to wilt as soon as you look at them. A freshly picked lettuce from the garden will stay crisp and tasty for a week.
So, I am urging all those who haven't already, to plant a wee patch. If you have heaps of room, go for gold get those pumpkins, corn and spuds sorted but it is important to realise that if space is at a premium, fantastic rewards can be gained from a small area.
A magnificent array of herbs can be successfully grown on a balcony.
Get a bit of kitchen compost going, transfer it to one of the many different-sized and priced compost bins available at hardware stores.
Dig around the garden to find a few worms, throw them in and you're away.
We have a salad of fresh peas, broad beans and lightly fried beetroot with sheep's feta arranged with delicate young spinach leaves.
Alternatively you could use rocket, mesclun or a combination of freshly picked leaves.
Drizzle over a little spicy extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lime and a scatter of flaky sea salt - add a grind of pepper and you're done.
The second recipe is for beautiful cherry tomatoes roasted with fresh thyme, served on bruschetta with a gorgeous salsa verde - green sauce - an ideal recipe where you can essentially use a variety of herbs from the garden. Pulse them in the food processor with a clove of garlic, a few capers, a squeeze of lemon maybe a hard-boiled egg and then enough extra-virgin olive oil to make a sauce.
There are so many reasons to build your own vege patch and enjoy the pleasure of growing your own food.
- Detours, HOS