Waikato Foodbasket

Plum bounty

At this time of year, plum trees are laden with fruit in the Waikato. But, these are backyard plum trees. It’s hard to buy locally grown plums. There’s only one kind of plum (which definitely isn’t local) at my local fruit shop, and none at the supermarket. The Divine...

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A fortnight of marrows

Recently our fridge has been stuffed with big green marrows. My son Tom's friend had an abundance of marrows and we ended up with some of the monsters. Marrows are overgrown courgettes or zucchini. When you don’t check the garden for a few days at this time of year,...

The joy of celery

It’s a great season for celery in the Waikato. Last weekend the Suncakes Gardens stall had piles of beautiful fresh unsprayed celery at Hamilton Farmers' Market. Celery is one of the unsung heroes of the vegetable kingdom. The celery we get in the supermarket all year...

Seedlings of success

It’s the time of year when plants grow like crazy as soon as they’re put in the ground. And, in Hamilton we’re lucky to have a source of great quality seedlings at the Hamilton Farmers’ Market. Mark and Nikita from Weathersfield Organics are selling their locally...

Jersey Girls: Cream of the crop

My article about Jersey Girls is in the current issue of OrganicNZ magazine. In a country full of huge dairy farms, it’s wonderful to be able to drink milk from this small family farm near Matamata. Every Sunday I bring home a couple of bottles of Jersey Girls milk...

Seaweed: On beyond sushi

I started thinking about this article when we were on holiday at Matangi. There was beautiful fresh seaweed washed up on the beach. I collected some and made it into a Scandinavian-style smorgasbord salad. (See later in this post for the recipe.) I love sushi, but I’m...

Buckwheat breakfast

My favourite winter breakfast is hot buckwheat porridge. With a spoonful of home-made Caspian Sea yoghurt, a dash of Sweetree honey and a sprinkle of Trade Aid cinnamon, it’s warming and sustaining. For the purposes of the Waikato Foodbasket, the locally produced...