Why i need my veggie garden

3rd October


I had a bit of a moment when I did my gardening this week .I went to start gardening thinking about all the needs I would be satisfying how I  think i  would be satisfying my need of communion with nature and becoming one with the environment creating a beautiful environment that would enrich my families life.

Instead I  found it another strain on my stress and exhaustment levels .My needs at the moment are very much at the mercy of the seasons , Spring has truly sprung. Ive been put back with gardening with being away for eight weeks in on my north island placement.and feeling stressed every time I look at my poor veggie garden with some rocket and purple sprouting broccoli on their way out  ( I didnt plant any garlic !!).
Its time to plant !!!!.

AMBIENCE
The labour of my activity can be seen as its ambience as it describes the whole of the activity and describes the feeling created by a particular nature of an activity when it is being done for itself. Ambience is described as a feeling or mood associated with a particular place, person or thing' (Sunderland, 2010)
and therefore is bound to the cyclical process of providing and using the vital necessities that will sustain the life process.

"The gathering of nourishment, however, is not only necessary; it is also endless. Once done, it must be done again. Answering as it does to the requirements of life itself, it can end only with the end of life" (Green ,1968).

Im realising and (this reflection helps),Things are different to other years as I have a far smaller garden and the climate is slightly limiting .SO im going to be realistic .My new needs from the garden  to have a wealth of salads and herbs especially basil and coriander.  This should work well because salads make food more interesting and it should be easy grow enough for my family of six .
If I try and grow enough spuds I will need a small field - so that ain't going to happen.

The next need I realised I have is to  changing the environment from the last owner of the house to my vision of the house .I think that my garden and house need to reflect who we are as a family. I also need it to able to allow us to eat tasty food on  no money; if you grow coriander parsley bunching onions you can survive on anything .
Actually I think im argueing that i have an aesthetic need for the garden to reflect who i am rather than who lived there (Thanx G9 for your comment made me think a wee bit ) AS soon as i saw the garden i knew i could change a large area at the back in to  a garden area . but this is a large work in progress which included taking down two huge pines .

Again when i have argued the need of labour i think that at the moment i have no spirutual need for labour  i.e this week when i was gardening this week i had spent friday and saturday working on other peoples properties and then sunday morning trying to cull or flower bed cutting and hacking flax  roses pulling out unwanted tussocky stuff.

I think at the moment my need for the garden is secondary to other considerations and I am trying to install a system that allows a good amount of food for liittle effort.One where the garden is an extra positive for our lifestyle not one that takes over the spare time that we have between work study and family time, for it complement my life and enrich it not be another stressor.
With all this reflecting i realised iwasnt being much use in the garden and decided to go on the trampoline with two of my kids.

Reference list
Green, T. (1968). Work, Leisure, and the American Schools. New York:, Random House.