Rediscover Modern Homesteading

A delicious all-purpose relish, Pear & Tomato Relish is a winner when looking to preserve the last of the season’s harvest – from fresh or frozen.

Lemon Meringue Pie is a classic but what about the humble grapefruit?

Candied citrus peel tastes a little like Christmas, looks rather beautiful and best of all, turns something destined for the compost into something worth celebrating.

Mandarins.

I first discovered this recipe when I was trying to make a citrus jelly.

If cordial is the sweet side of citrus, this mandarin shrub drinking vinegar is its sharper, slightly more grown-up cousin.

Why should lemons get all the glory?!

I love hummus.

One of the biggest advantages of dehydrating fruit and herbs is that they don’t just become ingredients for cooking.

Delicious with fresh, preserved or frozen pears, these Pear & Ginger Muffins come into their own (and/or a Layer Cake depending on the occasion).

There’s not much point dehydrating beautiful homegrown produce, carefully grinding it into powder, putting it into a jar… and then leaving it sitting on the pantry shelf looking pretty.

It turns out you can make a pretty decent little baked snack with just three ingredients: bananas, eggs and oats.

Here’s my delicious homemade seasoning: a nod and a wink to KFC style flavours, to enjoy with chicken, fish and roast veggies.

Coffee grounds in the garden: should you use them?

This is one of those easy, reliable recipes I like to have on standby.

With just fresh citrus, vanilla beans and a bottle of vodka, you can create beautifully fragrant homemade extracts that will elevate everything from cakes and biscuits to desserts and frostings.

Why make Tomato Powder?

What colour are limes?

Turning leftover materials into something you’ll actually use is always a buzz.

With an over abundant harvest of kale, silverbeet, chard and spinach in my garden I’ve turned to dehydrating and powdering.

When a lime tree decides to produce hundreds of fruit all at once, there’s only so much fresh lime you can use before you start looking for new ideas.

Turn your home-dried Lime Zest into something extraordinary.

Homemade shelf-stable lemon and lime juice?

It’s citrus season and, like many gardeners, I’ve found myself with a basket overflowing with limes.

I recently received one of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever been given in a very long while.

Do you think you are the only one out there with a humble veggie plot in your backyard?

When most people think of citrus preserves, they think of marmalade that contains peel, and peel brings bitterness.

It’s mandarin season, and if you’re looking for ways to use more of them than simply eating them straight from the fruit bowl, let me introduce you to my Mandarin Coconut Butter Cake.

There’s often a grain of truth in old wives’ tales.

If you’ve ever grown parsley, you’ll know there are only two outcomes.

It’s mandarin season, and right now my citrus orchard is producing beautiful Corsica 2 mandarins.

The days are shorter, and spring still feels a little way off, yet here I am, already thinking about juicy red strawberries and planning ahead for the warmer months.

A simple way to supplement fresh greens for chickens!

Once you’ve made a batch of Homemade Flavoured Salt you’ll not want to use ‘standard salt’ again!

Parsley: the herb that just keeps giving, right?

There’s something optimistic about a garden that reseeds itself.

If you’ve ever ended up with a mountain of chokos climbing over the fence, you’ll know the problem isn’t growing them.

Traditionally garlic is planted on the shortest day of the year and harvested on the longest.

When it comes to choko season you’ll be looking for 101 different ways to use them.

There’s a point where bark stops being bark.

It had to be done.

I adore growing things from seed, particularly with my new hot house!

If you’re a backyard gardener with just a handful of cucumber plants in your garden, you’ll appreciate the glut of fruit they will produce come summer.

I managed to salvage around 50 brown pears before the local possums absolutely decimated the tree (as they have been known to in previous years).

Oh the places you’ll grow choko!

Polenta, like so many interesting grains lately, has made a kitchen comeback.

Go-to recipes are a gift, and this easy Banana Muffin recipe is firmly in that category.

Think of Cucumber Sushi as a fresh way to use up the summer glut!

Make your own Salad Sprinkles – crunchy, nutritious, and zero-waste friendly If you’ve ever craved just a little something extra on top of your salad: a bit of crunch, a burst of flavour, a more satisfying bite, Salad Sprinkles might just become your new…

I’m always on the lookout for recipe ideas that help reduce waste, use up leftovers, and still feel like something special.