There are certain phrases in the Afrikaans language which, when literally translated into English, are the source of much hilarity and in fact are part of our South African culture of a great sense of humour and ability to laugh at ourselves. One such phrase is 'he threw me dead with...." I can only think that there is a vague connection to the English phrase 'to kill with kindness'. Well, at the moment I am being thrown dead with organic vegetables straight from the farm nearby! This is by no means a complaint, but the work involved in cleaning and storing them is quite something and leaves me in no doubt why convenience foods were introduced.
The vegetables first have to be manhandled from the ground (potatoes, beetroot and carrots) or stripped from the vines (tomatoes) or sliced through their stalks (spinach). Onions are about the easiest to harvest. Copious amounts of sticky black sand adhere to the vegetables, which then require multiple rinsings (not good for water conservation, but we don't want to pick up worm eggs or worse), scrubbings and parings. The bits that the porcupine will eat are put in a heap for the front garden (no carrot tops, lemon skins, squash skin, beetroot leaves, spinach stalks or banana peels are welcome - they actually are quite fussy. The bits that people will eat are then stowed in containers in the fridge or vegetable rack for consumption as soon as possible.
This all goes on once a week, and while it is a privilege to have access to high quality, organic food, you can kiss half a day goodbye. Could be worse, I suppose. At least it means less time in the supermarkets!
So I'll make hay while the sun shines and look forward to the crops of winter vegetables that are growing apace.
I look forward to being thrown dead with cauliflower and broccoli!
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