Having missed most of the weekend's farmers' markets, I went to the local supermarkets in the hope that their produce departments would, by virtue of their size, offer at least some locally-grown goods.
Countdown was almost entirely hopeless. The only item that I could confirm was local was a punnet of coriander. Now that I have coriander, I'm not sure what to do with coriander.
New World was of much more use. I was able to pick up locally-grown celery, potatoes and carrots. I also -- finally -- got a bag of gold kiwifruit, a variety I have seen many times but have never tried. Later I bought some lettuce and onions from a deli.
These fruits and vegetables, along with my small mountain of apples, are now my breakfast and a significant part of my lunch. The potatoes sometimes feature at dinnertime, but they take a long time to cook so unless I've planned ahead I just slice them very thin and fry them.
I imagined before I started that vegetables would be the easiest thing to find locally. Knowing what is in and out of season makes a big difference, though. We're between seasons for oranges, with most kinds of citrus available at the beginning of autumn. My potatoes would have been stored, as new potatoes don't become available until spring. Melons and berries are out, and I sadly missed the feijoa season -- the brief period where an absolute lack of feijoas is replaced by far, far too many -- by a few weeks.
There is a Greek legend of a tormented soul named Tantalus whose punishment for (among other misdeeds) stealing the gods' ambrosia was to spend eternity being denied food; when he reached for some fruit, the bough would incline away, and when he tried to drink, the waters would recede. It is where we get the word tantalise.
I feel a little like Tantalus this week. Everywhere I go I smell coffee, and bread, and ham, and beer, and all sorts of good things. But my reach only extends 100 miles; all these worldly goods are denied me.
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