Just days before Christmas and everyone is preparing for the feast! Dad has brought out his elastic-waist trousers so that he won’t have to worry about loosening his belt and the kids’ eyes are as wide as plates watching the fridge being stocked with delicious festive fare. Mum is busy writing a list of all […]
Ok, so I don’t really know how to speak French and had to google ‘delicious’ to find ‘delicieux’, but I do know a thing or two about growing French Tarragon, especially here in WA. French Tarragon has a mild aniseed flavour that is amazing with chicken, fish and egg dishes as well as most vegetables. […]
When I was just 24 (many years ago!) I bought my first house in Golden Bay, south of Perth. It was in a sleepy little seaside hamlet and although it cost me $67 000, in those days on a graduate teacher’s wage, that was a lot of money. Especially with interest rates at around 17%. […]
Of all the herbs in my garden, thyme has to be my favourite. I just love its versatility in the garden and in the kitchen. For me, the must-have is Pizza Thyme with its glossy deep green leaves and burgundy blush. It has the most aromatic perfume that really does smell like a pizza so […]
When I used to give herb talks around Perth, I often used to say that basil has a man’s name, so I treated it like I treated my men! I fed it a lot, gave it a lot to drink and then cut it down to size! One day, a gentleman in the audience put […]
Every garden should have peppermint growing for herbal tea, spearmint for Asian dishes, culinary mint for traditional mint sauce and any of the countless others growing just for their foliage and fragrance. All mints, Mentha, are moisture-loving plants and except for a few, are perennials that are usually propagated by cuttings or division. Most who […]
Ladybirds may appear to be beautiful and harmless but, in fact, are ferocious predators with a voracious appetite for sap-sucking insects. Aphids and other sap-sucking insects are common in our West Australian gardens, feeding in large colonies on the plant juices of the new buds and shoots on roses, fruit trees and other valued plants. […]
Basil (Ocimum basilicum) conjures up wonderful images of summer brunches sipping on wine and dining on bruschetta spread with pesto, salads drizzled with basil dressing and tomato, basil and rocket pizzas. When the fragrance of basil fills the garden we know that it’s not long until summer arrives. To the ancient Greeks and Romans, basil […]
Collecting chillies has become a growing trend in WA, especially amongst male gardeners. It seems that the new measure of a man is the heat of the chilli that he grows and eats. The hotter the chilli, the hotter the man! Fortunately for our men, they can develop a tolerance to the heat level of […]
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) has a pungent, citrus flavour to the leaves that some people adore and others detest. In fact, its name is actually derived from the Greek word for bug as they thought that is smelt like one that had been squashed! Coriander grows best where the climate is hot and humid. In most parts of […]
