I love collecting wild food. It involves much effort, sometimes disappointment and now and again bodily injury. Despite this there is such thrill in collecting a feed from something that most people pass by without considering. Often wild food is more intensely flavoured than its cultivated cousins, and its existence and location revealed […]
I know what you’re expecting. The full-blown day of food without a single thing beyond the boundary of this property. Sorry to disappoint. The reality is that on this day of days of food, tradition is way older than the twelve year old Food Farm. That’s not to say that over the […]
I like to think I know this place. You see I have a bit of a thing for wine and food, and have made it my business since returning here (about 12 years ago) to get to know as many wine and food producers in the North Canterbury area as possible. They are my […]
Our lives, twined around vineyards and a small farm, are lived at the pace of the seasons. This sounds idyllic doesn’t it? So turn away now if you’d like to retain the bucolic image you have floating in your imagination. The reality can sometimes be a little more startling and frantic and sleepless than […]
Thinning is a strange thing that’s mostly restricted to this time of year –late spring/early summer. It’s strange because we seem to have spent a GREAT deal of effort encouraging plant growth through a myriad of land-mine moments, such as late […]
There are times when ingredients appear in the garden in such a way that the resulting meal is a no-brainer. Such was our Sunday evening considerations- artichoke, broad beans, peas and basil. Throw in some homegrown bacon and the whole thing has a pasta resolution. […]
Tis the season…. for green garlic. Also known as spring garlic or wet garlic, this is the young version of the garlic we all know. As an ingredient garlic has become ubiquitous and as unseasonal as other ‘basic’ ingredients […]
I been gone. For six days, to South Australia. It’s a long time to be away in the growing season; M. Nature can throw a lot at you in that time, and throw she did. Gale force nor-westers to be exact and seriously high temperatures for this time of the year. Yet, thanks […]
