There are few things nicer than walking in your garden, soaking up the sun, smelling all the different fragrances of the flowers and hearing the bees humming away. One specific plants comes to mind when picturing this image, and it is the lovely Lavandula dentata...
How many times have you walked past a house in a lovely neighbourhood, and all you could smell was the aroma of the food being cooked that almost makes you feel like asking for a seat at that dinner table. It is as if the herbs and spices they’ve used are calling you,...
Herbs are the quickest, simplest, and tastiest way to elevate your dinners from ordinary to mind-blowing. They are even more vital in winter when hearty roasts and homey veggies need a sprig of rosemary or a topping of parsley to bring a meal together. Unfortunately,...
We always say, “you are what you eat”, and most of us think we’re being healthy when we eat five servings of fruit and veg a day. But do we really know what we’re eating? When we buy a punnet of plums or a bag of kale from the supermarket, do we know what they were...
Thrifty gardeners like to use every part of the vegetable. Why throw away luscious beetroot tops, colourful Swiss chard stems or crunchy broccoli stalks? If you use what everyone else tosses away, then you are a ‘root-to-stem’ gardener. This is the latest trend in a...
Don’t we all love to snack? Behaviourists, who have studied the psychology of snacking, say it’s not always because we are hungry. We snack to improve our mood (boredom or comfort eating), as a convenient on-the-go meal or energy boost (school and work lunches), and...
Micro is all the buzz, although cell phones seem to get bigger, food portions are getting smaller. Just visit any well-run restaurant and you will see. Big plates filled with small dots and brushes of liquified coloured concoctions, baby peas resting on a slice of...
We all know our gardens slow down considerably in the colder months, but there is no need for our veggie patches to slow down. There are many vegetables that can tolerate cold and be classified as winter veggies, yes even minus degrees and light frost. With a few...
Autumn is a good time to grow vegetables in containers. The milder days are less stressful for the veggies than the blistering heat of summer. Looking ahead to winter, containers can be shifted into sunny, sheltered areas, especially if the veggie garden is draughty...
Although its growing season is in the warmer months, thyme is the perfect choice for the winter herb garden. Not only is it very frost hardy but it also copes with dry conditions, and the low-growing varieties can give you a groundcover that stays green even in the...
Designed to feed By Anna Celliers Few gardening experiences are more rewarding than picking home-grown edibles, and the ways in how they are produced are always changing. In simple terms, you don’t need much to start a veggie patch. The basic requirements are fertile...
It’s summertime and the weather is sweet… This is the ideal time to spend a few hours outside bonding with the family. What better way to do this than to tackle a gardening project that’s not only fun, but also gives you delicious veggies in the end! Get your loved...
By Alice Spenser-Higgs Planning a braai and want something different? Here’s how to use herbs to ‘spice’ it up! We don’t need an excuse to braai; after all, it’s part of our heritage. December’s balmy evenings and the end of the year holiday mood just add to the...
There’s a month to go before spring, which means it’s time to prepare beds, wash seed trays, turn the compost and sow seed in trays for an early start. The get ready for spring checklist: Make your own germination mix Make a 50/50 mix of sifted garden soil and fine...
In the spirit of World Cucumber Day on June 14, Tanya is going to show you how to grow these versatile vegetables successfully! If you follow these step-by-step instructions, hopefully, there will be some fresh cucumbers in your garden this spring to use in your...
Most of us have at some stage in our lives been urged to ‘eat our greens.’ And our parents were right all along – ongoing research into brassicas has found that no other vegetable group is as high in terms of vitamin A carotenoids, vitamin C, folic acid and fibre....
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]All the rage at the moment. Full of concentrated nutrients and enzymes, they’re a great way to stay healthy through winter. Here’s how to get started: You need: A block of palm coir A planting tray Vermiculite Organic veggie seeds,...
Herbs for a hotpot Herbs grow so well in pots that there is almost no excuse for not growing your own. Nothing solves a problem like a pot. No space, not enough sun, heavy clay soil, dogs that dig – the solution to all these problems is to grow herbs in pots. Then...