by C McNamara

Created on: March 14, 2008

Once a gardener...

I used to be a fine gardener in my young energetic days at University, if I don't say so myself! I was one of those students who studied just enough to gain credits or higher, but didn't chain myself to my second hand pine desk. There were more interesting things to do.

Thankfully I was attending a Uni located on the warm coast of New South Wales. The lush semi-tropical coast - a true gardener's haven in this dry hot country of Australia. We received plenty of rain, regular rain which was a god send in a country whose climate outlook is normally, for the most, dry, hot, dry, hot, sunny and dry. I planted my seedlings, heck I even raised a few seedlings from seed! I collected cow manure from surrounding properties (I always managed to live in an old 'Queenslander' at Uni, rather than in the dorms) and spread the rich dank substance fairly and ethically around my little vegetables. My lovely sweet tomatoes, my crunchy lettuce, my spiteful rocket and my vibrant spinach. Oh, life was good and healthy!

Money was, of course, quite an issue back then when my text books cost nearly my fortnightly allowance. Hence, turning to Mother Earth for some of my food supplies, was a smart thing to do. Before too long I had many of my friends doing the same, and for a short time we knew a world akin to Utopia.

Well, that was over 15 years ago. During this time I moved south from the lush wet beauty of the north coast to the capital of Australia, Canberra. The soil is pale here, the rain is infrequent, and there is dust dust dust on the winds blowing in from the Brindabella Ranges. I left my creative nurturing gardening days behind and settled down to be an upstanding public servant dedicated to serving the government of the day.

Life has been good, I've been earning good money and I've been working in an interesting area close to my heart, environmental protection. I even got married to a fellow public servant. Now he also used to be a fine gardener, and he even tries quite regularly to encourage a garden, any kind of garden, as long as it's green and alive.

The predominant reason that occurred to me through my time in Parch-City for my lack of gardening enthusiasm was that it all seemed just so much harder now, this growing of vegetables and this landscaping stuff. I shifted the blame for this on my aging body; the feeling that I'm just not quite as young and energetic as I used to be, as well as the harsh environment where we live which makes it somewhat nearly

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