The melt-in-your-mouth texture of a sorbet is all the more delicious when you’ve made it from fresh home-grown fruit. Pretty enough for a dinner party and good enough for every day, this dragonfruit and finger lime sorbet makes a great guilt-free snack. Quick and easy to whip up after school, it’s a nice summer treat
While okra isn’t exactly the new kid on the block, most Australians are only fairly recently learning to grow and cook with it. Okra is versatile in the kitchen and can be cooked as a side dish, a main, or a snack. Here we give you a recipe for each of these options. Okra has
What is Okra? Technically, okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is a fruit, but is perceived and eaten as a vegetable. The colour changes with the variety, and ranges from pale green to pink to dark maroon. A heat-loving, low-care crop that thrives in strong sun and humidity, okra does best in subtropical and tropical gardens (if you’re
There are certain foods eaten while on holiday overseas that were so good, we never forget them. For me, it’s chicken skewers with peanut satay sauce. A mainstay of my street food-based diet on numerous trips to Thailand, the punchy flavours never disappointed. Or, if I’m honest, it was more like me fist-pumping the air
No matter where you live, as a gardener you always have some sort of constraints. Whether it’s climate, space, time, energy or just plain personal preference, we can’t do everything. There are literally hundreds of different herbs you can try growing, but realistically we all have to make choices about what to grow and what
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
This middle eastern-inspired chard carrot casserole combines the earthy taste of rainbow chard with the sweetness of carrots. Chickpeas & cumin provide the protein and base notes, while parsley, mint and lemon juice round out this beautiful looking and tasting dish. When I see Swiss rainbow chard I always sigh because it is so beautiful!
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
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
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
Meet celtuce- one of the most versatile, tasty, useful, yet least-known vegetables. Celtuce (lactuca sativa var. asparagina) is a form of lettuce which is effectively dual-purpose; the leaves can be eaten as lettuce, and the thick stem as a type of celery. This unusual edible will grow in a variety of climates, suffers minimal pest
Hummus is great, especially when you make it yourself. You can add in extra veggie goodness to make it healthier and more nutritious- just like this carrot hummus!Everyone has their own version and this is one I have perfected over the years to precisely suit my preferences. The beauty of this recipe is you can
This rhubarb raspberry jam is so versatile that it’s more than just a jam! Naturally it’s fabulous on toast & breads, but it makes an interesting addition to pancakes, yoghurt or a filling for our rhubarb redcurrant pie. Why not try it as a filling for these rhubarb and raspberry filled cupcakes– they are sooooo
Grocery prices have risen sharply in 2022 due to inflation, and this upwards price trend doesn’t look to be stopping any time soon. Compounded by shortages due to the pandemic and localised extreme weather events, fresh produce prices in particular are higher than ever. We’ve all seen the $12 lettuces headline, but luckily as gardeners
The rapidly rising price of food, especially fresh produce, isn’t news to any of us these days. Basic living is getting tougher everywhere: inflation is up, interest rates are higher, and supply chains are stretched to breaking point. Being scared won’t help, because it doesn’t lead us to safety or rational thought. But there are
There’s a reason that pumpkin soup is a classic the world over; because it’s delicious! A wonderful and traditional winter warmer, pumpkin & leek soup w/pine nut cream can feed a family and makes short work of a big harvest. Something about winter makes me crave smooth, creamy soups. The type that melt in your
Growing a plant from a cutting is one of the most important skills a gardener can learn. Whether your focus is food gardening or ornamentals, propagation via cuttings is one of the main ways we can reduce the cost of gardening and get more plants. Because seriously, what kind of gardener doesn’t want more plants?!
One of the best-known edible and medicinal herbs, sage has been grown for centuries in temperate areas of Europe. Part of the plant group known as salvias, common edible sage (salvia officinalis) is just one of over 900 types of sage, many of which are grown as ornamentals. This perennial herb has a reputation for
There are literally thousands of fruit trees you can try to grow. So many, in fact, that it can be hard to narrow it down or know where to start. Whether you’re a beginner, short on space or just plain undecided, why not start with the easiest? Some fruit trees are so easy to grow
Those who have recently experienced the major flood event in southeast QLD and northern New South Wales will be reeling at best and completely devastated at worst. If you have lost it all, I offer my deepest sympathies. Our food garden is like a family member, and when something happens to it, we suffer grief
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.
