Who Said Veggies Are Boring?

Nature Prompt: Vegetables bring joy to life

Nothing gives me a dopamine hit like seeing an array of fresh fruits and veggies.

Whether they are neatly stacked at a farmers market, or still growing on trees, there is just something about seeing them that is so exciting to me.

I would choose a farmers market over shopping for clothes any day.

When I was younger my parents would take my sisters and me strawberry picking, and I loved it so much. So much so I grew my own little strawberry plant as a child (my strawberries were always tiny though!)

I have always loved growing fruits and veggies, and even though I grew up in a city I was lucky to have a garden to create our own little fruit and vegetable patch.

At one point we used to have apple, pear, and plum trees and we even had a small grapevine.

One of my favorite things to do when visiting another country is to check out its selection of fruits and veggies.

The beauty of traveling to countries with different climates is that they are able to grow things that are not usually available to me.

Like coconuts that are available in more tropical climates. I love drinking coconut water straight from the coconut. I never even bother buying the packaged store coconut water it’s just not the same!

In Fiji, I also discovered breadfruit which is a really common vegetable to eat there as it grows abundantly.

It has a cassava type of texture but tastes like its namesake, bread. After eating breadfruit nearly every day I did start to get a bit sick of it as it is quite a dense vegetable and can lack flavour at times.

I love seeing carts and tables of fresh fruit and vegetables that have just been picked.

A lot of the time, especially in countries where fruit and veg grow abundantly, the farmers pick them and bring them straight to the markets and stalls, so they are always usually so fresh.

India is one of these places. I could not get enough of all the fresh fruits and vegetables I would see walking around.

I didn’t even need to search high and low for them there were always vendors on the streets selling them, and they had a huge presence in markets too.

But of course one of the most satisfying things to see is fruit growing on the trees themselves.

I spent my lockdown in New Zealand and where I spent my time was a place that was abundant with fruit and nut trees and with a huge vegetable garden. It definitely made the lockdown bearable!

I wrote about my experience here:

I used to go around the huge piece of land and pick fruit to snack on, or vegetables that would end up being my dinner.

There were fruits I had never tried before like strawberry guava, which tastes like a much sweeter version of guava ( the small maroon fruit in the picture), and feijoa (the oval green fruit in the above image), which has now become my favourite fruit and I can’t even describe the taste but it is so sweet and juicy.

I have always been so fascinated by fruits and vegetables, Mother Nature’s gift to us helping to nourish our bodies and feed our appetites.

I am a vegetarian, so fruits and veggies are pretty much my whole diet so I always try to find new and creative ways to cook them. There are so many ways to prepare and cook vegetables, I never understood why people thought the vegetarian/vegan diet was boring- veggies are exciting!

Though there really is nothing like growing your own food, it not only feels so satisfying but it is so wholesome too.

Right now, I am trying to grow some peppers, golden tomatoes, and basil and I am excited to see them grow!

One day when I have my own garden, I would love to plant trees and have another vegetable patch, but for now, pots of veggies will have to do!

Thank you Dr. Preeti Singh for yet another inspiring prompt!

Here are some really fantastic articles I highly recommend reading:

I agree with Marta Henriques, growing your own food is so much more sustainable!

Debika Kumari has really inspired me to start growing my own spinach!

Shubha Apte highlights the joys of winter vegetables.

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