choices choices

Supermarket prices are through the roof, organic veges are either unavailable physically or eye-wateringly pricey, so self-sufficiency is totally attractive.

But there isn't room. I'm adding more garden space every year, sometimes every week, but we're still on a suburban sized section and have to be dependent on other growers to some extent.

So I mull over my choices rather obsessively often.

Garlic is health food par excellence in my world. I've planted garlic again this year but resisted the temptation to plant even more. The good news on the garlic front is I have a source of organic West Coast grown garlic which I can buy in and store. I bought three kilograms at the end of last summer and we're still eating it now. I may buy even more next summer. As the garlic starts to sprout, I'm thinking that next year I need to play round with preserving garlic so we have local grown garlic for our daily meals all year round.

Onions. Another food where we eat a paddock's-worth each year and so rather impossible to grow enough ourselves. But then again, they are a heavily sprayed crop from memory (you know the articles where you freak out and declare no non-organic food ever again and then you go to the supermarket and realise organic prices are gold-plated and money doesn't grow on trees) and even when the money is there, organic onions are very hard to find. Last year I tried but had no success. This year I'm having another go with red brunswick onions, trying welsh bunching onions, and have shallots already growing well in the garden.

Carrots. Ditto the onions in every sense. Fingers crossed for some carrot success this year. I've got Nantes and White Belgian in the seed box ready.

Potatoes. Bought 3 kg of Red Rascal seed potatoes today. They should give us some lovely early potatoes, or that's what I'm hoping. We're not huge potato eaters, but the eating local challenge suggests that we need to eat more potatoes and less rice or pasta. There is a local commercial potato grower on the (West) coast.

Pumpkins. I love pumpkins and my favourite is Buttercup. Had pumpkin soup for three meals over the last three days. Pumpkins were a flop crop for me last year but I've been putting a lot of effort into getting the garden ready for a much improved crop this coming summer.

Leeks. Got some growing. Won't ever be enough, but I can live with that. I do want to keep 1-2 each year to go to seed simply because leek seed heads are so very beautiful.

Beetroot. Have some, not hard to grow, not a food I hanker for hugely.

Lettuce. I think we can probably do self-sufficiency on the lettuce front, mostly because they grow sufficiently quickly to re-use the ground multiple times in one season. Last year the garden looked very pretty as I planted out seedlings from my packet of mesclun lettuce mix seed. But this year we want crunch again, and it will be iceberg types all the way.

Radishes. Can grow. But who cares? How many radishes exactly do I want to eat?

Zucchini. Certainly can do self-sufficiency on this in season. Last year I made pickle which has gone on sandwiches often since and we still have some left.

Greens. Broccoli I need to keep trying with. I'm sure I can make significant gains on having this most of the year round with a bit more learning and practise. Silverbeet/Swiss Chard I haven't bought for absolutely ever, possibly not since we moved back to New Zealand. So that's an achievement. Kale has been a good success this winter and I plan to plant a lot more of it next Autumn. Self-sufficiency in winter greens is a big priority for winter physical and financial health.

Peas and beans. Flop crops last year. Toes crossed for this coming season.

Tomatoes. I'll be planting again this spring. We were really pleased on the tomato front last season. There is a local commercial tomato grower near us so happy to buy in from them to make sauces.

Herbs. Only use our own mint, parsley, sage and rosemary. I don't buy thyme in but I would like more than we currently have. I still have the packet of mixed herbs out on occasion but much less often now and I've started to play round with drying my own herbs for winter use. I love the versatility of coriander in that the leaves are lovely fresh but if it bolts, then the seeds dry up nicely for winter use. If I could grow cumin successfully, that would be very wonderful as I cook with it a lot. I've got two bay trees growing in pots from tiny cuttings and once I have used up the very large bag of dried leaves I bought at the Chinese warehouse/supermarket last year in Christchurch, my wee plants may be ready for picking a little. In winter, I can use more than ten leaves per week, so I may need to buy a couple more plants. I use celery as a herb and have achieved self-sufficiency with just six plants.