The Swiss are renown for being a hard-working, productive country (although they are not in the 2007 labour productive top 5 countries which has the US at the top…!?). They are also productive in another way. Everyday, it seems, I discover a delicious new fruit-bearing plant growing in the garden here. So far I have found blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, red, black and white currants, pumpkins, marrows, apples, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, leeks and many different herbs. They seem to grow easily. Perhaps I don’t notice all the effort that my aunty goes to plant and take care of them, but all the people down my street have fresh garden goodies growing.
I also notice that there are hundreds of random little patches of land around where the Swiss rent a garden, complete with a wee garden shed. Rented, I guess, by those who live in apartments without their own piece of soil onsite to dig up and plant. Very cool, organic and fun. Fun for those who like gardening, that is. Not me. I just like the picking and eating part. And making fresh bircher muesli and öpfel wähe. Mmmh.
Noah is developing some Jamie Oliver taste buds. He loves good quality food. Especially fresh veggies and fruit. He would rather eat the bitter red lettuce off my plate than some smarties (seriously!). He refuses chocolate but goes for the blackberries instead. Yesterday, he ate half a raw aubergine before I got a chance to cook it (aubergine, by the way, is so so so good sprinkled with salt, oil and cooked till really soft in a frypan).
Yum! What a great garden! The only thing growing in my garden right now (hardy enough to survive the freezing Chch winter - we’ve had snowfall lots this winter, it snowed on Nathan’s birthday on Saturday) are parsley and silverbeet.
Yeah I reckon! all that fresh produce looks great! I always have such good intentions of planting and growing stuff but somehow never quite get there . . .