Soil Searching Diaries
Plants, recipes, ideas, thoughts, musings, questions

4 min read

Soil Sister Ernie: Compost, Creativity and Connection

When Ernie first stepped into Brisbane’s Master Composter course a few years ago, she turned heads - not just because of her infectious...

3 min read

City Farmer in Vancouver: an urban wonderland

I spent a lovely couple of hours on two occasions visiting the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden, AKA City Farmer, exploring this...

7 min read

Composting on the inside

Apart from inmates, their families or staff, not many people see the inside of a prison and most would not wish to. Yet the...

4 min read

Compost in Battery Park City and remembering 9/11

After reading about Battery Park City Authority's dog waste composting program, I was very interested to find out more. It was amazing to...

4 min read

Regenerative ancient agriculture: the chimpanas of Xochimilcho, Mexico City

Mexico City was founded by the Aztecs in 1325 AD and was built on a vast lake and a series of wetlands. This ancient culture created an...

4 min read

Composting in New York by bike

What a perfect introduction to community composting in New York City – a Compost Bike Tour organised by the Lower East Side Ecology...

4 min read

Digging into the soil of Los Angeles

I wanted to get down and dirty in the City of Angels - beneath the glitz and glamour, the theme parks, the highways - deep down and...

2 min read

Sweet potato

Sweet potatoes are well know for the delicious and healthy tuber but their stems and leaves are also a nutritious and tasty green...

2 min read

A tea garden

Teas can be made from leaves, roots, flowers, fruits, stem or seeds. Whether they are iced or hot, relaxing, refreshing or medical they...

2 min read

What to do with citrus skins

Making up a fresh glass of orange juice or after a recipe that calls for lemon, lime or any other citrus fruit you may be left with a...

2 min read

Comfrey - broken bones, bees, chooks and compost

Comfrey has broad prickly leaves and occasional pink, white or purple flowers which bees and other beneficial insects love. It prefers to...