GARDENING THIS WEEK

GARDENING

CURRENTLY:

By Wally Richards

Johnsonville.

Please note that your name and street address MUST be provided with emails.

Letters/Opinions not necessarily those of the Wainuiomata News management.

It is certainly interesting times we are living in and also some gardening problems to overcome.

Recently I went looking for some vegetable seedlings and seed packets of vegetable that I wish to add to my gardens at this time.

I was after cauliflower seedlings to grow and harvest in winter and some onion seeds to sow now.

I had to visit several gardening places before I found the items I required.

This means that a lot of people have woken up to the fact that fresh produce in the supermarkets are several times dearer currently than they would normally be in March.

In fact in March there should be a glut of cheap fruit and vegetables available from spring and summer crops. There isn’t.

The supermarkets are now starting to import vegetables that are normally available in abundance from NZ growers. There Isn’t.

Imported produce is much more expensive than local grown hence if you are paying $5 for a small cabbage now soon you will be paying $10 or more.

I was talking recently to a check out operator at local supermarket than was saying there are several customers that are not at all friendly, now times.

I can understand why, people with limited money for buying food cant afford all the groceries that they are used to buying; their budget just does not stretch that far. Hence they can be grumpy and even a bit nasty to the Supermarket staff.

The same people are in a Catch 22