Date Loaf
My favourite cakes are a simple affair. They need to be moist, a little bit sweet and a little bit fruity. Add a slathering of butter and you’ve totally got me. This delicious, simple loaf comes from...
View ArticleGet Inspired This June
Winter’s a great time to go work-shopping – get yourself re inspired! Surrounding yourself with people who are into the same stuff you’re into is always a winner of a way to spend a day. On the 3rd and...
View ArticleKumara and Ginger Loaf
June is the perfect month for this kind of baking. Dense, moist and gingery – its just the thing to make a grey day bright. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Steam or roast 2 large kumara (a great use...
View ArticleHoney Vanilla Sesame Shortbreads
So fudgey, so good. Cookie love. Honey Vanilla Sesame Shortbreads A recipe from the wonderful Kelly Gibney 75grams soft butter, at room temperature 2cups ground almonds 1tsp vanilla 2 pinches of salt 4...
View ArticleTo Copper Spray, Or Not?
Cankers, oozing sap, fruit scab, fruit rot, leaf spots, leaf curl or mildew are all signs bacteria or fungus are ruling the roost in your orchard. Today, I want to look at two ways to manage these...
View ArticleThe Perfect Raspberry Frame
This here is the raspberry frame I wish I’d made. Seeing it in action the summer after we’d built ours was bad luck for us, but hopefully not too late for you! Create two rows, 400mm apart using 1.8...
View ArticleHow To Prune Raspberries
You’ll get the best out of your raspberries with a winter prune – bigger fruits, less disease and easier picking. For Raspberries That Fruit In Summer Year 1 The new canes that shoot away in spring are...
View ArticleHow To Plant Fruit Trees (And Bravely Prune Them)
Put a $10 tree in a $20 hole! Dig Dig a 20 litre hole If you are on clay, puncture the bottom of your hole by pushing your garden fork in as far as it will go If you are on sand line the bottom of your...
View ArticleJuly In The Vegie Patch
These root crops were sown late autumn and the reason they’re growing like little rockets is because they’re cosy beneath a cloche. That plastic skin has warmed the soil to 13°, while outside the...
View ArticlePruning Tips + Pruning Video + Book News
Last month I promised you the new and improved version of “A Beginners Guide To Pruning”, and now I have to un-promise. It is not ready. My time has been spent on more important things – I’ve been with...
View ArticleCreamy Green Coconut Curry
Quick comfort. Easy nourishment. This bowl ticks all my week night dinner boxes. And it’s timely – with so many broccoli shoots in the garden, inspiration is called for. Creamy Green Coconut Curry A...
View ArticleSteady As She Goes
Patience is required at this time of year, dear gardener. Success hinges on friable (the opposite of soggy), 10° + soil. Get your soil thermometer out, and check. At 10 degrees your soil is ready to...
View ArticleHow To Prune Redcurrants And Blackcurrants
Pruning currants makes the wickedest difference to the amount and quality of fruit because the fruits come on young wood. Left unpruned, the harvests become increasingly pathetic – too much old...
View ArticleIt’s Time To Feed Your Fruit Trees
Deciduous Fruit Trees Before feeding comes weeding. If you didn’t free your trees in Autumn – now is good … before the weeds get their spring grow on. Grass is so damn competitive – such an efficient...
View ArticleAugust in the Vegie Patch
Seed sowing time rolls round again Ain’t it great when seeds and seedlings are back! Here’s your pre spring check list Clean your seedtrays. Just use water and a stiff scrubbing brush, then leave them...
View ArticleGet Your Greenhouse Ready Set To Grow
I love this bit – the getting-set-up-to-grow bit, as much as I do the growing. Prepping the soil, working out whats growing where, building frames… it’s good work. Besides which, being all ready to go...
View ArticleSpring Happenings At Edible Backyard
We’ve left the quiet of winter and landed in the excitement of spring. And there is cool (but mostly I hope helpful) stuff happening here at Edible Backyard! Bountiful Spring Workshop Citrus, vegies,...
View Article3 Ways To Banging Soil
What are the three top contributors to amazing soil… after chasing my tail for a bit and going round in a circle (when you reach the beginning again, you know you’ve won), I found my number 1, and it’s...
View ArticleSeptember In The Vegie Patch + The Berry Patch + Spuds In Buckets
So much cool stuff to do in the food garden at the mo, so much prettiness to soak up and enjoy. In the Vegie Patch Plant out celery, broccoli, cabbage, bok choy, kale, silverbeet, parsley, salads,...
View ArticleIn The Chookyard – Dustbath, Fresh Ground + A Video
Fresh Ground Where are your chickens hanging out at the mo? I hope they’re not on muddy, bare ground… Unless your chooks are free ranging over a large area, it’s super important to move them about....
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