Welcome to the
Waikato
Food Basket
This is a blog about celebrating and showcasing the delicious abundance of the Waikato region.

Eat your Greens
I’ve always loved green salads. My definition of an abundant life includes a garden with an apple tree, a lemon tree – and salad greens and herbs. My absolute essential greens are flat-leaf parsley, curly endive and land cress.
Low-hanging loquats
The loquat tree on our driveway has been laden with fruit this year.
I’ve been loving the golden egg-shaped fruit. Loquats have a sour-sweet, aromatic and slightly astringent flavour that I especially enjoy.
Loquats are distantly related to quinces and apples. They’re easy to grow in the Waikato.

Low-hanging loquats
The loquat tree on our driveway has been laden with fruit this year. I’ve been loving the golden egg-shaped fruit. Loquats have a sour-sweet, aromatic and slightly astringent flavour that I especially enjoy. Loquats are distantly related to quinces and apples. They're...
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Writing about eating

Low-hanging loquats
The loquat tree on our driveway has been laden with fruit this year.
I’ve been loving the golden egg-shaped fruit. Loquats have a sour-sweet, aromatic and slightly astringent flavour that I especially enjoy.
Loquats are distantly related to quinces and apples. They’re easy to grow in the Waikato.
Elder generation
This winter I’ve been dreaming of elderflower champagne. It’s fun, and fizzy, and it reminds me of summer. It’s one of my favourite things.
Elderflowers and elderberries are great for making interesting and delicious beverages that sit at the intersection between drinks and European herbalism.
Easy beets
Beetroot is in season pretty much all year round in the Waikato. I love the amazing purple colour of beets, which some people unkindly call “lurid”. I love that beets can be used both cooked and raw.
And it’s such a thrifty plant. You can make two different vegetable courses out of one bunch of beets.
But, beetroot isn’t “fast food”.
You have to think ahead, to get the best out of beets.