Finger limes are an unusual citrus fruit which are native to subtropical Australia. They taste just like regular limes yet are unique in their texture and presentation; the insides look just like fruity caviar. Even in Australia, this is a gourmet fruit which can be hard to find & fetches high prices in retail markets.
There’s nothing like a big Christmas dinner with all the trimmings- and stuffing is always high on the trimmings list! Whether it’s vegan, vegetarian or contains meat, is cooked inside meat or on its own, there’s a stuffing to please everyone. Here are 3 of my favourites; sage & onion, thyme & parsley, and cranberry
It’s no news to any of us that subtropical and tropical climates have extremely hot summers. Add to that some punishing humidity & daily downpours, and you’ve got the potential for some vegetable gardening disasters. Anyone who has tried to grow traditional European crops through a QLD summer has learnt the hard way that hot
There’s nothing like growing your own basil. Inhaling the lush scent when you brush past it in the garden. Watching its flowers attract essential pollinators. Picking leaves for salads, pesto and pasta sauce. Using it as a companion plant that improves the flavour of tomatoes. Sadly these are usually only seasonal pleasures, because annual basil
This traditional lemon & passionfruit butter tastes like nostalgia- and don’t we all love a bit of that?! Many of us remember our grandmothers making these sorts of spreads, and there’s no reason not to continue the tradition. And don’t think that there’s magic or trickery involved because Nana made it- it’s really very simple!
Do you know how expensive passionfruit can be? It’s outrageous to pay for something that you can grow so easily at home! We love passionfruit, and it was the first major food crop we grew here at the Self Sufficient Me home garden. Using my top tips on how to grow a ton of passionfruit,
Water celery is a little-known perennial edible that grows in most climates & makes a fantastic addition to any food garden. All parts of this plant can be eaten, and the mild taste sits somewhere between parsley and celery. It’s easy to grow, and will survive both very hot summers and hard frosts. Despite this,
Hearty, delicious, spicy & full of goodness: this tasty beetroot soup with chive dumplings & hazelnut dukkah has it all! The velvety soup texture and soft dumplings contrast perfectly with the crunch of the nutty topping, while the chilli, coriander & cumin add deep, spicy base notes. Whether you simply love the taste or have
Beets, beetroot, whatever you want to call them, when you have too many…. well, you have too many. Yet with the price of food these days, none of us wants to be wasting anything home-grown, especially a seasonal crop like beetroot. Our self-sufficiency journey isn’t just about growing the food; we need to know how
Purslane is one of those unusual little herbs that lots of us have yet don’t ever notice. Considered a weed in many western countries like Australia, but an edible in the Mediterranean and Middle East, you might say it walks the line between vegetable and weed. What Exactly is Purslane? Purslane is a succulent edible
To prune, or not to prune….that is the question! I’m talking about tomato plants, of course, and in this article I’m going to explain why sometimes you should prune tomatoes, and sometimes you shouldn’t. Types of Tomato Plant There are several things I look for whenever I’m thinking of pruning tomato plants, and the first
A tasty & low-calorie meal that makes great use of your garden herbs, this herb and pine nut pilaf is one of those fantastic make-something-out-of-nothing dishes. It cooks easily in one pot, and only needs rice, fresh herbs, stock, nuts and an onion. Though to have originated in India or Iran, pilaf is a rice
There’s nothing more refreshing than a cool drink on a hot day- especially when it’s home-made from your own produce! Sweet, tart and delicious all at the same time, this old-fashioned lemon balm lemonade makes excellent use of a few lemons plus highlights one of the most under-used herbs, lemon balm. Lemon balm is highly
Ok so you’re new to gardening. Or maybe new to raised beds. We all know that veggies need soil to grow in, but where do you get the soil from? Which soil do you use? How deep does the soil need to be? What else do they need? Do I need to add fertiliser? If
The well-known catchphrase ‘beautiful one day, perfect the next’ was devised by advertisers to describe Queensland summer…but I don’t think they had gardening in mind when they coined it. Summer in subtropical south-east Queensland has 3 keywords: hot, humid, and rainy. This is a time where the gentle breezes and pleasant sunshine of spring have
Keeping a flock of chickens in your backyard is a great step towards self-sufficiency. A supply of fresh, organically-produced, free-range eggs is a big plus…but what if you get too many at once? Sure, you can boil, poach, fry, and scramble- but what else can you do to make the most of your eggs? Here’s
There are many varieties of savoury pies, but this easy chicken & leek pot pie is a classic for a reason- it’s fantastic! This chicken & leek pot pie is surprisingly simple to make and extremely flavourful. Featuring tender chicken thigh meat & sweet leeks enveloped in a creamy, garlicky, white wine sauce, topped with
You might already know that nasturtiums are edible (and if not, welcome to the club!), but did you know they make an excellent pesto? It’s true! When it comes to edible flowers and plants, nasturtiums are a bit of a superstar. The entire plant can be eaten- flowers, leaves, stems and seed pods. All parts
Use berries from your backyard to make this fresh, vegan, sugar-free dessert. When mulberry season is in full swing, you can only eat so many straight from the bush…so what to do with the remaining eleventy-hundred? Here’s a fresh idea for a low-calorie dessert that showcases this wonderful local fruit. Now if you don’t have
Do you love eating garlic, but have trouble growing it in your warm climate? Then you might find elephant garlic (allium ampeloprasum) a fantastic substitute. This hardy allium does well in the tropics & subtropics where the winters are rarely cold enough to grow a good garlic crop. Elephant garlic has huge cloves with a
Self Sufficient Me is a blog about self-sustainment by growing our own produce (plant/animal), and self-fulfilment by looking after our health (physical/mental) through exercise and slowing life down a little.
