When you first start growing your own food, the excitement is real. So much so, that it can be hard to wait for your first harvest! But it’s easy to start eating from your own backyard quickly, if you sow the right crops. Here are our favourite 6 crops you can harvest in under 30
When you first start vegetable gardening, the path to successful crops isn’t always clear. There’s a steep learning curve, especially when you’re starting your vegetables from seed. Variables like soil, watering, propagation, and maintenance can seem like minefields for the beginner. One technique that is critical to the success of any food garden, is potting
Don’t get the wrong mental picture: this deceptively-named edible plant is in fact a green leafy vegetable. An ancient annual salad green native to southern Europe, its name came about because it would typically self-seeded in corn fields. Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of Dutch corn salad- it is definitely a lesser-known edible.
We all know how good an authentic home-grown heirloom tomato is, so it’s no wonder that tomatoes are one of the most common plants in any home vegetable garden. But growing great produce is really only half of the self-sufficiency journey; we need to know how to use & preserve our harvests too. There are
There’s nothing like showcasing your favourite home-grown produce, and this simple braise does exactly that. Featuring the simple flavours of your organic tomatoes and fresh green beans, this tomato and green bean chicken braise is easy to make with your freshly-picked produce and a few pantry staples. There’s no point aiming for self-sufficiency if you
Tomatoes are at the top of every vegetable gardeners’ must-grow list. And while the plant itself grows easily enough, producing large, tasty fruit can be deceptively tricky. Here, we explain 5 ways to make your home-grown tomatoes taste better. Keep Them Out of The Fridge Cold is the mortal enemy of tomatoes. This is something
There’s nothing better than a low-calorie, quick, one-pot soup for a weeknight dinner…& it’s even better when you can pick most of the ingredients from your own backyard! Blessed with a big crop of leeks that were ready for harvest, I devised this hearty, filling soup that is super-simple and quick to make. A perfect
It makes a lot of sense to preserve radishes so you can enjoy them at any time. Despite being quick and easy to grow, radishes don’t grow year-round in most climates. On top of that, oftentimes you’ll only want to use a little at a time. So it really does make sense to preserve them
This oven-poached tarragon chicken is perfect in so many ways! It’s low-calorie, quick to make (hello weeknight dinners), heart-smart and very nutritious. Simple yet rich in flavour, it takes little more than popping a few ingredients in a dish and putting it in the oven. Based on home-made chicken stock with its wonderful comfort and
Vegetable gardening is so exciting when you first start, and there’s so much to think about. The beds, the soil, the plants, the growing, the sun, the watering, and so on. But what happens once you’ve got everything in place? How do you maintain it? How do you know what to do? Here, our 5
Originating in Mexico, corn is an ancient food whose popularity has not waned with time. Corn comes in a number of varieties and although formally called maize, it is known by many different names. These include popcorn, dent, flint, flour corn and heritage corn. The main type of corn most of us know and eat
This is the cheats way to make an amazing tasty pilaf- and it only takes half an hour! A pilaf (also called pilau) is a seasoned grain & vegetable dish, cooked in stock or broth, which may or may not include meat. Common throughout the Middle East and Latin America, pilafs usually include fresh garden
When you’re beginning a food garden for the first time, the prospect of growing your own vegetables can seem exciting yet daunting. The thrill of having organic produce in your own backyard is a big one, yet there is so much to learn and so much to do before you get to the stage of
If you’re anything like me, you have an abundance of pumpkins during the growing season (in fact it’s way beyond abundance, but that’s a whole other story). I’m always on the lookout for fun ways to make good use of my harvest, and what better way than a pie that can be shared with friends
One of the best gardening problems you can have is too many plants. Sometimes, when you grow from seed, germination can be better than you expect & the garden quickly becomes overcrowded. When this happens, your plants can suffer and fail to thrive because they simply don’t have enough space & resources to reach their
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
So many of us have come to live in subtropical climate areas from colder, more mild regions. Naturally, we have grown up eating traditional European vegetables, so when we become gardeners, those are what we try to grow. We soon realise that those veggies aren’t so compatible with humid subtropical conditions, and that we need
Eggplant parmigiana is a classic Italian dish my Sicilian grandmother used to regularly make for my father (because apparently, no-one else made it just right). Regions of Italy such as Parma, Campania and Sicily all claim parmigiana as their own. In truth, the origins of this dish are decisively uncertain– either way, it is now
This traditional Sicilian chickpea and spinach braise is a resourceful meal derived partly through tradition and partly through need. My grandparents came to Australia in the early 1950s armed with gardening knowledge but little else. While they quickly established a productive vegetable garden, grandads fledgling fishing business didn’t always bring home the catch of the
Chokos (aka chayote) are amongst the most prolific, versatile and healthful vegetables you can grow. Rarely available commercially, chokos are a traditional staple in many warm temperate and subtropical home gardens. The fruits’ crisp texture and mild flavour lends itself to roasting whole or adding to soups and stews, where it will take on the
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.
