Living in Lockdown has taught many of us the importance of being self-sustainable and today I will share some of the lessons I learned with you.
When our lockdown started some just over 10 weeks ago, I was shocked that ordinary food items were scarce!
I know many people were stockpiling on stuff like...
Toilet Paper...simply weird and crazy I thought!
Tissues...perhaps just in case the hoarders got the virus, a tad understandable.
Hand sanitizers, masks and gloves were absolutely unobtainable.
I could live with all of that but not finding ordinary fresh produce like carrots and cabbage for example was just beyond me, so we started planting in all earnest again!
No food to share this week, but I will share with you how we've started kind of recycling veg off-cuts and expanding our veggie garden which now is coming along nicely.
We've been enjoying tons of lettuce which grew from a previous crop that self-sprouted; peas are clinging to hubby's trellis and the Butternut and Hokkaido Pumpkin seeds I saved have grown into strong plants with some flowering already, as are the green beans.
So I spoke about recycling vegetable and herb shoots earlier and you must be wondering what that is all about.
My Gran first taught me how to cut off the roots of Leeks, Spring Onions, Celery and even Carrots and plant them again.
Of course carrots can only be planted for their green leaves which are delicious added to soup, so they are planted with the roots facing up; all the other roots of course facing downwards
Young shoots of herbs such as Rosemary, Basil, Mint and Thyme can be placed in water and once they start rooting, you can plant them into a container and nurse them till they're stronger to be planted into the garden.
Garlic and ginger as well as potatoes that start forming eyes can also be planted to produce new plants and a new crop.
I will definitely keep you updated on the progress but this is one little leek that I replanted a while back that's starting to show some life again.
WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN ENJOYING FROM THE GARDEN
Our Pomelo tree has been a constant source of natural Vitamin C; this fruit has a ton of juice which we enjoy twice a day and really makes a lovely refreshing drink, not as tart as Lemon juice!
The Tamarillos have also been generous this year - a delicious fruit packed with Vit A, C and E as well as other nutrients with seedy pulp that one scoops out. The flavour is a mixture of passion fruit and guava, great in fruit salads. These trees were given to me by a dear old uncle who grew them from seed.
The curly lettuce has been super generous and is a constant supply for salads. These lettuces do not form a core so one simply snips off enough leaves for the daily salad.
Nasturtiums is another useful plant as one can constantly break off shoots and replant elsewhere; these are nature's antibiotic and are really tasty in salads and on sandwiches.
Same with Sprouts; grow your own on a sunny window sill and you'll have a constant supply of your own natural immune booster!
I hope I've given you enough food for thought on how inexpensive it can be to grow your own vegetables and herbs as my contribution to this week's Fruits and Veggies Monday hosted by 
Credit also goes to the cheerful quirky creations of the wonderfully talented artist 
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