Dried apples are an awesomely easy and useful preserve for using up all the apples with bird pecks/ bruises/ black spot that wont store well. Home dried fruit is nothing like the rubbery, preservative dipped things you buy. Flavour bombs! Especially if you are growing heritage varieties. Dry pears and

This is me and my dear friend - medical herbalist, Ali Sutherland - making our annual supply of Echinacea tincture. An essential in both our homes first aid kit for preventing colds, hay fever and infections. A tincture - for those who are unsure, is a herb steeped in alcohol to extract the

Kawakawa has a special place in my heart - it was the first 'real' (ie not from a bag) herb tea I ever made many moons ago. Such a powerful healer - 72 medicinal uses according to Murdoch Reilly's "Maori Healing and Herbal" - and I was

For perfectly flavoured cordial, harvest when nearly all the little flowers have opened to creamy white perfection. Pick them on dry morning, after dew has gone but before things heat up. Elderflowers move fast from bud to bloom to berry - so get in quick if you want to make cordial!

Refried beans are such a quick nourishing dinner - when made with fresh, homegrown shellout beans it's next level creamy and yummy. When everything bar the salt, cumin and oil are homegrown - it's a big thumbs up for low food mile deliciousness. Dollop on a bowl of

Such an easy, useful preserve. Chop the tops off and slice the chilli's in half. * If using a dehydrator, turn it on low. * If using an oven, turn it onto your lowest/ non fan setting. You may need to prop the door open to ease the heat a

Gardeners are so busy at this time of the year. Add a job and a few kids to the mix, and cake baking, which should be near the top of the priority list languishes way below. Here's the world's most simple cake, especially for you my