Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Adecade of Mandy’s garden
Gardeners know all things come to an end. Like winter (yay), the strawberry season (thankfully not just yet) and that best ever bottle of homemade fejoa wine (sigh). So, too, is the case with this column. This will be the last time you hear from me in the Saturday Express as a regular columnist.
It has been almost 11 years since my first column ran in January 2007. We have had a good run, the Saturday Express and I. I have enjoyed sharing my gardening stories and I amguessing those of you who have not flicked straight past this page today have enjoyed at least some of them.
Through my columns, I have met great people, been offered interesting opportunities and above all, enjoyed conversations on gardens, dogs, chooks and everything related, from chutney hoarding to the plant-watering habits of male dogs.
A lot can happen in almost 11 years. John Key came and then departed as prime minister; the tomato potato psyllid arrived and has not departed and kale smoothies became a thing. In fact, in this space of time the same vegetables grandparents have been convincing kids to eat for generations suddenly got their own marketing campaigns and become ‘‘super’’. I suspect some of these suddenly ‘‘super’’ foods may even have their own social media followings; I’m too afraid to look in case I’m right.
On a more personal note, in the past almost 11 years the dog grew up and the she-wolf entered our lives and my columns as a boisterous puppy. Both are now canine senior citizens. They, the other half and I all sport more grey hairs now than we did then. During this time we also farewelled my father and his spontaneous and generous garden donations – like the trailer-load of horse poo that arrived one morning before breakfast. That gift certainly helped our fruit trees, which have grown from saplings to fully productive trees since I started writing about them. The chooks that first featured in these pages have long since gone into the garden as fertiliser, although their many successors have been equally as friendly, feisty and opinionated.
In the past almost 11 years, I have grown from an experimental to an experienced gardener, although as most gardeners will tell you, experimentation is a large part of an experienced gardener’s methodology. I have shared my growing experiences with weird vegetables and settled on the staples I grow every year. Some are common, like tomatoes, and others less so, like tomatillos – my favourite summer salsa ingredient. You have also heard about my winemaking experien- ces, top and flop crops, the antics of wayward chooks and the helpful and not-so-helpful habits of our four-pawed pals.
I hope along the way I have convinced a few people that you do not have to be a green-fingered guru to plant a few veges. If not, let me leave you with a final word of advice: you do not have to be a green-fingered guru to plant a few veges.