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impossible to raise any sort of plant. I've even killed a succulent (sorry little cactus, it wasn't you, it was me!).

And then, out of the hot blue sky, I found some inspiration. Don't ask me where, but it came to me a few weekends ago. It may have been from watching my husband unerringly digging away and applying fertilizer. He does look quite nice in his work wear, such a contrast to the suit and tie...

My inspiration may have also come from the rising cost of fruit and vegetables. Or it might have just come from my little internal leaf that somehow managed to flip. I thought, hey - I'm still young! I'm only 36. All it takes is hard work!

So I contrast my head-space, my body and my enthusiasm now with my Uni days and I think I've been much too hard on myself. My Uni garden didn't really have much help at all beyond the initial planting, applying cow manure and the frequent patch of rain. It was an easy garden to grow, and it mostly took care of itself. Whereas my Canberra garden needs love and attention. It needs regular maintenance and lots of water. It needs energy, which I now have thanks to...well... thanks to gardening! We've installed a rain water tank to capture those few and far between raindrops to get us through the dry times, and I now feel like I'm the suburban expert on mulch. My concept of 'nurturing' has also changed significantly, and I now know that life was easy for my vigorous and spiteful rocket of my Uni days; my shy and tentative rocket requires much more coaxing now.

This year has certainly turned around for me. I've reclaimed my inner creativity and have a well established little productive patch. I'm much more fit and energetic, and while I'm no longer 19, my husband assures me I still look pretty good in my gardening shorts. And we saw the culmination of our efforts recently when we prepared an al fresco dinner party starring ingredients freshly plucked from our vege patch basil pesto pasta, bruchetta, tabouli, baba ganouch, quiche - yum! Life is good and healthy. And fun. And happy, and crunchy...

Learn more about this author, C McNamara.
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