Isn’t it stunning? This is the current position of all the cargo vessels in the world. Just cargo vessels – I’ve set the filter to remove the passenger ships, the tankers, the fishing vessels, all the other types of sea traffic. How do we prepare for when those ships stop, or, if we are smarter than I think we collectively are, when they start using fuel that is clean and…
Look at my silver beet! It won’t be like that for much longer. Pretty soon it will think about going to seed. But what made me think about this post was not just the silver beet begging for a photo but a conversation with a friend this week about how we decide what to cook.
Last year, this was my water chestnut pond. And it worked so well. In this little suburban garden I have so little space that everything has to be miniature, but the discipline of making every centimetre count has been an epiphany. Water chestnuts in one side, kang kong in the other, and as much of each as we could eat in its season. I still have a couple of tubs…
Feverfew is a pretty little perennial herb with flowers that look very much like chamomile. It’s is best known as a migraine preventative, and there is now some decent evidence that it works and is safe. Luckily I don’t get migraines. But there is also some evidence that it is useful as an antihistamine, and as a hayfever sufferer, that earns it a spot in my garden.
Elder trees are flowering right now and this is so, so very easy to make. It’s a lovely lightly fizzy, not too sweet, mildly alcoholic drink perfect for relaxing with friends over a long lunch.
Colcannon is Irish mashed potato with cabbage, and it is one of those surprisingly wonderful recipes that have you going “aha! I understand how this became a national dish”. It has just four ingredients and like any of those classics that every kid remembers grandma making, there are more versions than you would think possible with so few ingredients. This is mine.
The question I see come up more often than any other in garden forums is how to deal with pests. And I get it. Watching the aphids arrive right when your beautiful broccolini get to the stage where you don’t know if you want to eat it or photograph it is hard, especially in a small garden. It takes nerve to hold fire.