The Secret Garden
It is one of those things a lot of people don’t know about me. At one point I was very committed to nutrition and ‘natural’ health things. I devoured books (not literally, obviously), poured over the latest research, frequented health food stores. In 2003 inspired mostly by Fit For Life, I adopted a mostly vegan diet centred around the cumbersome process of ‘food combining.’ And at the time, it was glorious. I lost lots of weight, went walking every day for 30 minutes at a time. I felt better. I had given up on coffee (can you imagine?!). It was wonderful – at least until I started working and 5am starts heralded the new age of coffee consumption. Weird hours led to a lot of take away meals at stranger hours. Sleep was even more erratic. In short, the wheels fell off the whole endeavour. It all became a little bit too hard.
Also during this time I started growing herbs and vegetables. I loved herbs. I found them fascinating. I had large volumes of information on culinary and medicinal uses for them. My father arranged two garden beds in the backyard and I filled them with weird and wonderful things. The more novel they were, the better.
On Sunday I went back to a local nursery for the first time in a long time and bought a few different plants. It was fun just walking around and taking in all the sights and smells. I stopped beside some Chocolate Mint (Mentha piperita var.). It smelled so beautiful. I’ve never understood why exactly they call it Chocolate Mint. It is just a variety of peppermint. And peppermint is so divine. I hesitated at it for a moment and thought, “No, John – this makes you happy, just the smell of it makes you happy, buy it already!” Even as I type I am drinking some peppermint tea courtesy of its leaves. A lovely indulgence. Especially as I sit listening to Rickie Lee Jones’ acoustic jazz album, Pop Pop.
I suppose my focus has changed slightly in the five years since I have dedicated any real time to my garden. I am less concerned today with plants of medicinal benefit, and more concerned with their culinary applications. I also bought some Vietnamese Mint (Polygonum odoratum) – a delicious peppery leaf, Thai Basil and Pak Choy. I also found something called a ‘Mushroom Plant’ which, apparently, gives the flavour of mushrooms from its leaves. (I think my love of all things Asian is clearly shining through.) We also got some chilli plants, some capsicums (‘Peppers’ for the benefit of QiRanger), a variety of lettuce and some peas.
There is something so enchanting about being in a garden, watching the bees pollinate the flowers. Tearing a leaf from a plant and enjoying its fragrance as the essential oils seep from the leaf onto your fingers. There is nothing quite like it.
EDIT: On a less romantic note though… I had also forgotten how much hard work it was to prepare a garden bed. It will be worth it though. I’m confident of that.
Coooooool! Plant some Sage, Rosemary, and Clocks! We grow our own tomatoes out of a bucket :)