Hobbit food
Unless you’ve spent the last decade living in a hole in the ground, you’ll probably be aware that this part of the world is “The Shire” for Peter Jackson’s film versions of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. The spruced-up Hobbiton film set near Matamata is now a...
Loquat season
Our loquat tree has had a wonderful long season this year. There are still plenty of golden fruit on the tree in mid December. The birds get quite a few, but there are enough for me. This morning I had freshly picked loquats with yoghurt for breakfast. I love the...
Amazing asparagus
Tonight I'm cooking some beautiful spray-free Les Asperges asparagus from the Hamilton Farmers' Market. It must be getting towards the end of the asparagus season. Sometimes mid-week I get tempted to buy asparagus from the supermarket, but we can always tell the...
The Farm Shop at Gordonton
If you live at the north end of Hamilton, The Farm Shop is a great place to buy local food. It’s in Gordonton Village, just along from the Firepot Cafe. The Farm Shop at Gordonton has a great range of Waikato food They have a remarkable range of fresh produce at...
Silverbeet and oyster mushrooms
It was a blustery kind of Sunday, coming up to the spring equinox. We rolled up to the farmers’ market at 11am, dodging the rain. Lennart Prinz had bags of his fabulous oyster mushrooms and huge paper bags of silverbeet. Oyster mushrooms and spring silverbeet We...
Pure gold: New Zealand grapefruit
At this time of the year, we have a glorious grapefruit bonanza (or glut). This is exciting, because we ran out of marmalade at Easter, despite making huge quantities last year. My husband Matthew spent his holiday boiling up marmalade (don’t worry, he enjoys it). I...