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

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

Chooks are a joy to live with. Their unique personalities are wonderful to get to know and their antics are really entertaining....

With so many edible greens growing in the garden this pie is different every time it gets made, depending on what's available. A...

Originating in South America it is often commonly called Queensland Arrowroot because it was once grown in commercial qualities in...

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

Easy to grow, tasty and healthy these flat leaved chives keep giving. Garlic chives and society garlic are very similar in appearance -...

Providing a distinctive South-East Asian flavour to cooking, Makrut trees are an important feature in a sub-tropical garden. The leaves...

Chokos have a bad reputation in Australia. People remember them from their childhood being served up boiled to within an inch of their...

Spending time in the garden is a great way to get exercise and soak up a bit of vitamin D from the sunshine. In addition it's an...

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

The work of Michael Leunig, the Australian cartoonist, writer, painter, philosopher and poet, is so whimsically accurate in his comments...

Drinking tea is meditative, relaxing, healing and deeply cultural. From Japanese tea ceremonies to dainty English afternoon teas, a cup...

Ceylon or Malabar Spinach, Basella rubra or alba, is much easier to grow than English Spinach in warmer climates. It grows as a vine and...

This dish works really well as a side dish to dahl or as a delicious snack on its own. Sizzle some a good handful of curry leaves with...

The curry leaf tree, murraya koenigii, also known as kadi patta, is part of the citrus family and very commonly used in Indian and Sri...

Salsa literally means "sauce" in Spanish and is an opportunity to creatively blend the many flavours of seasonal herbs to create a sauce...

Salads are a great opportunity to explore a variety of raw green leaves to add flavour, nutrition, colour and texture. Look for the young...

There are many different types of radish The root is eaten raw in salads or as a garnish but can also be pickled or added to soups and...

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

Amaranth is an annual plant originating from Central and South America and is heat and drought resistant making it very easy to grow. The...