Have you ever tried smoking your own chicken or fish? It’s very easy. You can use a dedicated smoker or a smoking box with wood-chips in your BBQ. Or you can use the black-tea method which is the easiest, cheapest and I think, most fun. To smoke the chicken breasts we used the black-tea method […]
Tags: chickens, cooking, recipe
Posted in Kitchen | 2 Comments »
As the words of the song suggest, when I moved to the Country, eating a lot of peaches was on my to-do list. Peaches are one of those things that you have to enjoy while you can as the window can be small. Three weeks ago, I was picking the first early fruit and now […]
Tags: cooking, fruit, preserves, recipe
Posted in Kitchen, Organic Gardening | 3 Comments »
You might find the name of this flower a bit confusing as it is also called Pot Marigold or English Marigold, without actually being a marigold at all. I like to grow calendula in my vegetable garden; it adds a nice splash of colour and seems to readily self-sow. Calendula petals make a great addition […]
Tags: cooking, flowers, health, recipe, salad
Posted in Kitchen, Organic Gardening, Sustainability | No Comments »
Angled luffa is a very popular ingredient in Asian cooking, especially in Thai or Chinese dishes. There are lots of yummy-sounding stir-fries, soups and noodle dishes featuring this versatile vegetable, but it is its suitability as a warm-climate stand-in for zucchini that’s the subject of this blog. Whereas squash and zucchini plants tend to suffer […]
Tags: angled luffa, cooking, recipe, vegetables, vegetarian
Posted in Kitchen | 7 Comments »
I can’t remember where my first plant of Warrigal Greens. It spread wide in a mat, self-sowed, was unfazed by the hottest summer and always seemed to be available. Moving north to the subtropics I discovered it really disliked humidity and even though it self-sows, the niche it occupies is much smaller. It tends to […]
Tags: recipe, vegetables, vegetarian
Posted in Kitchen, Organic Gardening | 13 Comments »
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
Posted in Kitchen, Organic Gardening | No Comments »
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 […]
Posted in Kitchen, Organic Gardening | 7 Comments »
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
Posted in Kitchen, Organic Gardening | 1 Comment »
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
Posted in Kitchen | 7 Comments »