I can’t resist having eggplants in the garden, with their glossy, plump, dark purple fruit and soft, grey-green foliage – they make me feel like a such a successful gardener! I reckon these plants can give most cottage garden flowers a run for their money when it comes to splashes of colour. To me they […]
Tags: eggplant, gluten-free, recipe, vegan, vegetarian
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I grow a selection of flowers in my garden that I can add to salads, stuff with cheese, rice and herbs or use as a colourful decoration on fruit, cheese or salad platters. The vivid blues of borage, bright reds and oranges of nasturtium and the golden and lime hues of the zucchini flowers are […]
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I love mushrooms; amongst my favourites are shiitake and oyster mushrooms. Their robust flavours are perfect in stir fries but work well in many other dishes too. They can be quite expensive to buy fresh, but are very easy and satisfying to grow. Your home mushroom farm needs very little space and could be set […]
Tags: fungi, mushrooms, oyster, shiitake
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This herb is a lovable rogue – don’t let it get the jump on you or it will take over your garden. I planted spearmint and that’s exactly what has happened. A profusion of spearmint. Lucky I like mint. So if you don’t want this to happen to you I suggest growing it in a […]
Tags: container gardening, herbs, recipe
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Most of us know turmeric in powdered form purchased off the grocer’s shelf. I have to admit that I hadn’t until fairly recently used fresh turmeric, when I was given some to try. Turmeric is a tropical rhizome and is part of the ginger family; it is used extensively in Thai and Indian cooking. It […]
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I have never wanted to be completely self-sufficient, partly because it would be a full-time job and in its way, quite isolating from other people. The permaculture concept of recognising and living within your bio-region has always seemed both practical and ethical, the ‘Think Global, Act Local’ idea. Supporting my local beekeeper, sourdough bread baker, cheesemaker or local […]
Tags: beans, preserves, recipe, vegetables, vegetarian
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Having followed a simple care routine for your citrus trees, you should be reaping citrus in abundance now. But what to do with them all? Harvesting and storage is easy. I make sure that I harvest any fruit when it’s dry – hard when it seems like it rains most of the time. Lemons and […]
Tags: cooking, fruit, lemons, preserves, recipe
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Until recently I thought all rhubarb was crimson red. I once grew some rhubarb with green stems but I was too nervous to eat it. I thought it was unripe and maybe even toxic, so I bought some from the shop instead. I know better now. It turns out rhubarb can grow crimson red, or […]
Tags: fruit, health, livestock, recipe, vegetables
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If I mention the word ‘fungus’, you may picture dark, slimy toadstools amid rot and decay. But to me, the world of fungi is one of jaw-dropping beauty – of many-coloured, weirdly shaped growths of amazing variety. One of the benefits of living in a subtropical area that seems to have had more than its […]
Tags: foraging, fungi, mushrooms, recipe
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Lovely lemons I love the flavour of lemons – lemon tart, lemon butter, gin and tonic with a twist of lemon… The humble lemon is also heralded as a cure of many maladies, from coughs and colds to halitosis and rheumatism. My fondness for the not-so-humble lemon probably comes from happy memories of being in […]
Tags: barley, drinks, fruit, health, lemons, recipe
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