Tucking in with a good book about food and gardening while staying close to the fire is a long tradition in our area. As we regroup for the upcoming planting season and plan to extend our vegetable gardens we seek new information and inspiration. The Waikouaiti library is a treasure trove of good books on growing and gathering food.
This year’s gem is Bee Dawson’s “A History of Gardening in New Zealand”. It is richly illustrated with everything from romanticised woodcuts and engravings of Maori cultivating kumara in the 1800s to photos of young women in wool skirts and sensible shoes digging their victory gardens during World War II.
Otago and South Island garden history gets regular mention. The author refers to hunting, fishing and gathering as the main sustenance for Maori and also describes their reliance on fern roots and native cabbage trees for starch. She describes European potatoes spreading south and by 1813 growing at the head of Otago Harbour. Whalers’ gardens depended on fish and seaweed for fertilizer, with fences constructed of whalebones to keep out wandering pigs and with shells laid on the paths. The European bees shipped to Lyttleton in 1884 (only 48 bees survived the voyage!) had spread to our area by 1888 and made a remarkable impact on pastureland. An 1849 letter to the editor of the Otago News raves about a fine early rhubarb crop. The North Otago Times noted that in the Oamaru autumn show “Ah Leong (Chinese Gardener) was very successful in securing a number of prizes for his broad beans, French beans, lettuce, celery, cauliflowers, peas and parsnips”. At some point thistle seeds took hold in Otago, most likely from bags of oat seeds planted to ensure a porridge supply.
This book documents household gardens shifting in and out of vegetable production depending on the overall economy, world wars, and interest in nourishing fresh local food. The worst of the depression years brought huge interest in growing food. Good gardeners ate better and could trade their skills and produce. Great photos and facts show New Zealanders during World War II producing food for the war effort. The Vegetable Production Scheme with large mechanised farms provided vegetables for troops in New Zealand and the Pacific. The Dig for Victory Campaign extended to the South Island in September 1944 and people were urged to “beg, buy or borrow a spade and dig for victory”. Weekly radio programmes helped with practical instructions. Food was grown for local communities, New Zealand military camps and troops overseas. In 1943 a Dunedin firm paid people to gather rosehips to make high vitamin C rosehip syrup. The wartime sugar ration of 340 grams /week was increased during jam making season. As we experience this current downturn in our cash economies we are certainly showing a renewed interest in growing our food locally. Looking back and looking forward – Bee Dawson’s book is a great read
Contacts for this column:
Patti Vanderburg: vburg@es.co.nz
Suzi Flack: suzi@parisettes.com
