I’m a weird gardener
I’ve always loved gardening.
When I was little my Pa had a sprawling garden in my grandparents backyard in Geelong. I longed for the opportunities to roam around the garden with Pa, perhaps to be given a job involving one of the mysterious plants. Where you placed your feet was paramount. I was conscious that one wrong step could mean the death of some seedling or shoot.
Of course if I’d thought about it many of these edibles, unrecognisable in their natural state, were the same vegies I adamantly refused to eat when they were served on my plate. That didn’t matter when I was with Pa and enjoying his curt, economic tours.
Ever since I’ve tried to grow whatever and wherever I could.
Like many Sydneysiders that meant pots on balconies and tiny courtyard spaces. I remember an angry letter from a landlord requesting that an expansive pumpkin vine, that had taken over the shared courtyard be removed. The ignorance! It was actually two pumpkin vines growing from the packed metre square patch of dirt, sitting innocuously in the otherwise bare paving. Besides they helped keep the concrete jungle somewhat cooler, while providing at one tasty soup.
Fast forward and today I have more space, but I still find myself growing in weird ways.
Meet my potato plant…
It was my mum that informed me of potatoes propensity to grow from a cutting of the ‘eye’. She’d had success and had I tried?
Well, no. I don’t cook a lot of potatoes and it felt like something that needed a lot of space. The gift of a vegie box over winter though would change everything. A few baked potatoes and a forgotten friend left to go soft in the cupboard saw me cutting out an eye and leaving it in a dish on the counter.
That’s my weird little idiosyncrasy; I like to watch things sprout and grow and sometimes cycle through in front of my eyes. Observing the different parts of the plant emerging from a single element is utterly fascinating to me.
Our baby potato plant has enjoyed pride of place on the kitchen window sill now for far too long. From sprouting to leaves, we now have flowers emerging and what I’m pretty sure are tiny little baby potatoes. All growing in a dish about a centimetre deep.
So today I did what any sane person would have done a month ago. Baby potato plant is now in the dirt and hopefully about to live its best life producing delicious carbs!
Enjoy the gallery of my botanical weirdness and stay tuned for more gardening adventures…
Image 1 - Happy little potato plant in its windowsill home
Image 2 - Potato flowers ready to bloom
Image 3 - The root system (and is that a baby potato I see?)
Image 4 - In our new forever home
