11 Dec 2012

buying plants









 
I am a romantic, a dreamer, an idealist. I have at times been known to live in a bubble.
 
In my perfect world, the fruit and vegetable man delivers the freshest of seasonal produce to our door. With a baby on my hip I stroll out my door to the waiting milko, he greets me by name and hands me large glass bottles of "happy cow"  milk with thick golden cream floating on the top. Notes and coins are exchanged. A copper topped and still warm sour dough loaf is retrieved by my eldest from the bakery van whilst the little corner store supplies the other bits and bobs needed to nourish my family. Giant fluoro lit conglomerates with shelf upon shelf of every conceivable need and want are non existent and family run businesses forge ahead.
 
In an age of everything at our fingertips it is all too often that my dreams and my reality are poles apart. We can (and often do) hop into our car and within minutes can be at a store that houses not only the paint and timber we require for a weekend d.i.y., but plants to potter amongst; encouraging us to buy vegie seedlings out of season that probably won't survive the car trip home. Then there's the world of storage to play around in, the face painter and the playground for the poppets. Add a sausage sizzle to the mix and you would be hard pressed to find a more entertaining morning.
 
The other weekend though we tried to stay true to our ideals and hunted out a little family run nursery that felt much more in line with our philosophy of living. Freshly watered ferns holding glistening droplets in their furry tendrils. Potted colour, fruit trees and agaves. A concise selection of seasonal vegetable seedlings and an eager to help bearded fellow shielding his face from the sun in an  enormous khaki hat. 
 
We spent a glorious morning fossicking through little shaded alcoves of greenery, swinging on ancient whirligigs and connecting with our community. The cost was comparable to the larger "all in together this fine weather" stores yet the aesthetics; the atmosphere was priceless. That morning we made a pact to only buy our plants from local, small business nurseries. Such lovely spaces are few and far between these days and I yearn for my babies to be able to shop like this when they first plant up a vegie garden for their own poppets. It is a small change yet one we hope takes us one step closer to our ideal world; our bubble.
 

Steph x

24 comments:

  1. you have such a beautiful way with words. what a glorious find. i love it. xo

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    1. Thank you lovely Veronica! It really was a gorgeous morning :) x

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  2. awesome, steph! it just makes sense, doesn't it. can't wait to see what you plant. :)sarah

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  3. Oh Steph it would be so lovely to turn back the clock just a little bit, I remember the fruiter coming around to our home and picking things out of boxes from his truck, Ted was his name. And then the milk being delivered in bottles, leaving the money the night before out on the front porch, it doesn't seem like that long ago but when I say it, it sounds like I'm a vintage;) It looks like you've come across the most beautiful place to spend time choosing plants together. Have a wonderful day lovely. x

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  4. We used to go to a local nursery near us quite often - it was small, family run and had a little cafe attached where we'd stop for breakfast or a coffee before wandering around. Sadly it recently closed down though :( I like the sounds of your ideal world very much xx

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  5. Beautifully said! And so true. Sebastian and I just bought our first ever Christmas tree - a real one - from the local nursery near my mum's house. So.Proud! X

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  6. I feel the same way you do Steph. We have a wonderful small local nursery near us. They have a real love for their business and are so knowledgeable. I was there this week explaining what I needed for my garden. Next thing I am scribbling down my address and the lovely lady who works there is coming out to my place this weekend to have a look around and help me do a plan for the areas that need planting. I can't wait! x

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    1. Isn't that brilliant! Wishing you a lovely gardening weekend :) x

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  7. every little decision we make like this makes a difference. and these places are out there, just sometimes you have a to do a little searching. good for you! oh how i miss milk with cream on the door step at 5.30am!

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  8. sounds wonderful! i wish we could do the same but we dont' even have a balcony :( x

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  9. Don't let go of that bubble! It means that things that fit come to you..one at a time .. if that makes sense. We found a source of happy (raw) cow's milk in the last year, and its something that I know I'll miss when I move away from this city .. And as for gardening, I'm currently thinking of ours as a "fridge" substitute, a source of inspiration.. I thought we had nothing in the house to cook dinner with but we did, it was just all out in the garden! x

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  10. a wonderful philosophy steph! And the small business owners just love it then type of mentality. I know in the small country town we plan to move to have a wonderful spirit of supporting each other. When we go there, we buy local, support the community and it's such a wonderful network to be apart of. Our apple farm even has the old fashion honesty box which I just adore! Your nursery visit looks like the best type x

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  11. looks like a wonderful place to spend the morning, & I love the sound of your bubble :)

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  12. What a lovely idea to make a conscious effort to support local and small businesses. They certainly are the places I hope my girls will one day shop also. Beautiful pictures of your day Steph xx

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  13. Just beautiful - words, pictures and sentiments x

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  14. You are describing a scene from my childhood Steph. It wasn't all that long ago actually that the milkman stopped delivering our milk.
    Between the two, I definitely prefer the old ways :)

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  15. Sounds and looks like such a wonderful day. There is nothing so delightful as plants that have been grown with love :)

    xox Lilly

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  16. I think the kind of world you dream of sounds perfect Steph. Our local nursery has a creek running through it filled with eels (eek!) and old wooden bridges leading to a quaint little cafe. Perfection right there x

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  17. Your local nursery sounds just delightful. No comparison to the giants. How sweet is the little bridge? We have a little nursery near us that I sometimes duck into before our grocery shop...Sassy runs about and gets all worn out so I don't feel so bad about plonking her in the trolley seat afterwards! x

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  18. Hi Steph - New follower after hopping over from ETST! That nursery sounds glorious. How old is your son? He looks to be just a bit younger than my Drew. :) Happy Holidays!

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  19. We have a favourite nursery that is similar in philosophy, Steph. They are New Leaf Nursery in Ingleside in Sydney and I'll make the drive to go there to get our chicken feed and plants in. x

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  20. You live in my world Steph. The same romantic world that sometimes is hard to navigate because the rest of the world is swimming the other way. But it makes my heart sing so I carry on doing it. Sometimes I make life hard for myself because the romantic way (making do with less, fruit and veg from a local organic co-op, meat from happy pigs and chickens and growing food in our backyard) isn't always easy. But it's satisfying beyond words and I wouldn't have it any other way. x (P.S. I'm very fortunate to live around the corner from a one-man nursery who has a little garden centre on his driveway. So very special, especially when he brings out his pet cockatoo to 'chat' with my son!)

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  21. It looks like you have found the perfect little garden spot. I am really enjoying living here. We have a little garden shop, the butcher is great and has been very accomodating to developing a preservative free sausage for my boy. The girls have started laying and thay just makes my heart sing.
    Looking forward to seeing the garden.

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Your words brighten my day! Thank-you so much for joining me on my adventure. x