Garden · 28. March 2022
In many places throughout the world, autumn can feel like a clear ending. Visiting Europe during autumn in the past, it seems so clearly defined that when the season is over, there’s nothing to really look forward to for awhile. Local gardeners tell me ‘that’s it, I’ll be covering up the beds and hunkering down for the winter”. And why not! Leaves fall and crunch underfoot, evenings turn crispy cold, harvests wrap up and days get dramatically shorter. Not that much in a vegetable patch can surv
Plant Guides · 09. March 2022
While I have grown potato onions and spring onions widely at times, the Negi onion is the one that remains outside my kitchen door and never dies off. Happily this year, they self-propagated (perhaps from the east winds swirling around the place), so now I have three pots outside the kitchen door.
At Home · 28. January 2022
These days, with many people staying close to home, we found that there are not many rescue dogs available for adoption. Some that we looked at did have very severe problems, they wouldn’t be suited to going home with a family that had children. Never having had a puppy ever before, we were resigned to the fact that we’d know when the right little personality came along. We knew it could be a few years.
At Home · 10. January 2022
This christmas we aimed to keep it simple, using what we already had, and making the most of nature and what was growing in our garden. Making gifts became important and catching up with people was extra special.
Country Kitchen & Recipes · 22. October 2021
While both muesli and granola are a mix of grains, seeds, nuts and dried fruits, the main difference is that granola is sweetened with honey or maple syrup and is baked. Muesli is not baked.
They each are regarded as a healthy breakfast.
Country Kitchen & Recipes · 30. August 2021
So here it is, jam drops for everyone, even those with coeliacs disease. The recipe is fairly simple, with the addition of almond butter and flax meal, the biscuit crumb is a little denser, crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle, and less powdery than usual. I used homemade mariposa plum jam for the middle. Needless to say, they were gone in a couple of hours!
Garden · 24. August 2021
This year planting a diverse range of flowers has never been so important for pollination. The choice of flowers in our gardens is just as important as our choice of vegetables. We noticed increased pollination yearly as more butterflies, dragonflies, bees and long beaked birds take to the garden. The presence of moths and mantis insects have increased also. The more pollinators that visit the front garden, the more vegetables have thrived around our edible block.
Country Kitchen & Recipes · 02. August 2021
A productive household is simply one that is working and productive for the good of the people that live there.
If our mortgages are the biggest expense of our lifetimes then why aren’t we producing more from our households?
Garden · 20. July 2021
Not just for dinner, we spend much of our time picking them and eating them straight from the pod. This is the very reason that we decided that we needed more than just a trellis in the vegetable patch to grow them on.
Country Kitchen & Recipes · 13. July 2021
These quick Banana Bread Bites have been the most requested and most popular snack in our home for most of winter now, so I thought I'd share them with you.
One of those recipes that can be made without much thinking, grab a fork and a stainless steel bowl to mash the bananas and then whip them up. Simply pour into a cake tin and pop straight into the oven. No fuss, just like most recipes that appeal to me!