‘Eggy bake’ is a common meal in our house and one of our all-time favorites – named by the kids.

Eggy bake – this version with grated cheese on top from local cheesery. Typically we eat it plain. Rarely we have leftovers.

 

Another household favourite is pumpkin soup (veggie soup really) using all freshly harvested vegetables – pumpkin, Choko, potato, herbs, turmeric, ginger, garlic chives, mustard spinach, and many other veggies and greens we find.

 

I think our 4yo will discover one day that usually pumpkin soup is orange, not green, but both these meals are great ways to get him to enjoy lots of freshly-plucked organic greens.

 

Weeping rosemary hanging over the terrace wall gets plucked for most meals.

Anyway, I started typing up a recipe for the book I am working on, The Good Life Guide and realized that this meal was far more than the recipe could communicate. A simplicity of just listing the recipe ingredients and steps seemed somehow to diminish the inherent qualities of the food.

 

Tulsi leaves and seeds also end up in most salads, soups, curries, and bakes.

 

 For me it is the rich tapestry of connections that are cultivated through this food that brings it’s true quality to light – the connections with the seasons, with our local environment, with the soil, with neighbors, with friends, with each other in our family, with our play, with our home education, and our workplace.

 

Garlic chives and their flowers have an amazingly powerful garlic flavour.

Here is my first attempt to describe the eggy-bake process…

 

1. Send the kids up to collect the eggs from the chook house we built using timber our neighbour harvested in his woodlot and a gift of reclaimed iron sheeting. We have an eclectic mix of rare breed chickens that the children look after. The eggs are all different shapes and sizes – but all have superbly orange yolks because they free-range often.

 

2. Wander around the garden with a handmade basket collecting a wonderful array of herbs, flowers, and leafy greens (and purples). I take a leaf from this and a leaf from that so I don’t harm the plant and can come back again day after day for more. It’s a peaceful way to garden and harvest.
   
   I collect things like soft pumpkin leaves and shoots, sweet potato leaves and shoots, mustard spinach, any brassica flowers, and soft flower stalks, many varieties of kale, welsh onion leaves, the bolting shoots from coriander/cilantro, tulsi leaves, garlic chives and garlic chive flowers, Brazilian spinach … there are so many things to collect, even pea leaves, bean leaves, beetroot leaves, young chia leaves, young amaranth leaves, weeds – chickweed, dandelion leaves. The more diverse the selection, the more diverse the nutrients in the food.

   The magnificent red mustard spinach is making its way into every meal in these cooler months.

   I love this time in the garden, watching the birds, noticing things – new shoots on trees, self-seeding veggies, subtle changes, and simple beauty. I think about what I can add to the garden to increase diversity or adapt to the changing season.

   Brassica flowers are a wonderful treat. I often snack on them in the garden.

   
   I notice where I need to add some more compost or mulch. The compost is made from the chicken bedding, and the Azolla we harvested by hand from the lake. The mulch is often chopped and drop materials, but we do also go and pick up some local bales of grass straw that another neighbour orders in bulk for us all to use. The kids love to ride in the trailer with the bales slowly back along the little internal road within the ecovillage with the wind in their hair, singing in the breeze,  watching for hawks and kangaroos.
   
   I could ask the kids to harvest the greens too because they know where all the great greens are at any moment – the garden is their playground – and sometimes I do, but I just love this time in the garden pottering for a few minutes.

 

There’s always a surprise somewhere in the garden.

 

3. Ask my children to whiz it all together in the food processor with a bit of fresh milk from the neighbour and handmade ricotta from another neighbour.

 

4. Cook it in a solar cooker (for a lunchtime meal) or a solar-powered electric oven (for dinner).

 

5. Duck out to the garden again just before the eggy bake is ready and collect some salad greens. I like to wrap little bits of eggy bake in a leaf.

   Fresh mixed salad with self-seeding tomatoes and lots of perennial greens, edible weeds and edible flowers.

    
6. Sometimes I go the extra bit and drizzle a salad with homemade dressing – shaking together a little organic olive oil made just down the valley (sourced from the local organic food store), with some homemade kombucha vinegar (using a SKOBY dropped off by a neighbour, a chopped up garlic clove hand-delivered from a friend in Tasmania (traded for limes), and some herbs and spices from the garden like rosemary, oregano, thyme, or chilli, ginger and lemongrass. Even simpler, I grab a lime, lemon, or grapefruit and squeeze it over the salad. Delicious just like that!

    

   Fresh greens, snowpeas. tomatoes, citrus and garlic

    

7. Ask the children to set the table. Often they gather a little posy of edible flowers and lemon myrtle leaves and make a beautiful arrangement.
8. Sit down together and enjoy, discussing the particular flavours and textures that we like in today’s version. You see, they are always different – and that’s the beauty of it too. 

 

It sounds quite complicated, but really it’s ultimately simple. All the ingredients are all just here around us, it’s seasonal, it connects us with our neighbours and friends, and our local environment,  we all help to make it happen, we all enjoy it immensely because of the heart and soul that we know has gone into every part.  And, from start to finish, cooking from scratch, it usually takes us around 30 minutes to prepare and cook as long as we keep it thin in the glass cooking trays.

 

Brazilian Spinach has leaves all year round for harvest.

This is slow food, but it’s not slow, quite rapid actually. With three children – two of them boys with huge appetites – preparing good food quickly seems to be the best approach, as well as getting them involved in the process.

 

Keep in mind too that I typically garden for about 10 minutes a day to maintain this garden – not a huge commitment, but an enormous benefit to our health and to the education of my children.

 

Some other reasons I love this way of cooking:

• this is community food
• it’s package free – the natural packaging of the eggs goes back to the soil. The milk comes in re-used bottles.
• it’s part of nutrient cycles in the garden and is waste-free
• it is so satisfying and just makes me smile so deeply when I sit down to share this meal

What’s a simple meal you cook from scratch?  What does it mean to you?

The post Good Food: Good Life: My recipe for simple eggy bake straight from the garden. appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Pesto – more than basil
Pesto is usually associated with basil, and yes I agree, it’s a wonderful flavour, but you can also make pesto from all kinds of garden greens or better still, a wondrous blend.

Today in my foraging, I harvested three types of basil, parsley, rocket, welsh onions, society garlic, cranberry hibiscus and sorrel. I blended these together with some toasted ground sunflower seeds, the juice of a lime and some olive oil and created an amazingly simple, but superbly flavoured pesto that can be used for all kinds of things, such as:

• pasta (veggie spirals are great with this)
• bruschetta (it’s great on the organic wood-fired local sourdough bread)
• soup
• salad
• dip

Extend the harvest
Often when the basil is on, it’s on! Making pesto is a great way to appreciate this abundance. I typically make up a big batch, then freeze in an ice cube tray. It’s a great way to extend the basil harvest.

Super greens for the kids
Also, because you can include any number of leafy greens, it is actually a great way to get your kids to eat an enormous dose of very nourishing greens.

MY GARDEN PESTO RECIPE

Here’s what I use for a really lovely texture of smooth pesto. As you can see, it’s more of a ratio I am suggesting here rather than exact ingredients. There is huge flexibility in the types of greens. It varies soo widely between seasons and regions!

Ingredients

• 2 cups leaves from your garden (basil or mixed greens – garlic chives, welsh onion, rocket, parlsey, mizuna, kale, spinach, silverbeet, pumpkin, sorrel, cranberry hibiscus, Brazilian spinach, nasturtium, and ‘weeds’ too like chickweed … )

• 1 lime/lemon, juiced

• 1/4 cup raw or toasted ground seeds/nuts (I use a coffee grinder)

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1/3 cup parmesan

NB: The leaves and flowers of the garlic chives replace the garlic in typical pesto recipes. It tastes great!

Method

Basically I just toss all the ingredients into a food processor and buzz until smooth, then spatula it all into a mason jar. It’s important to tap it down to ensure there are no air bubbles in the mix (will oxidise/go brown where there are bubbles) and I top it off with a little oil to keep it fresh. I store this in the fridge for about a week or two, but it doesn’t usually last that long though.  If you want to store it longer, it’s a good idea to freeze it.

The post Morag Gamble’s super pesto recipe using simple garden greens (8 mins) appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

I filmed my talk about Incredible Edibles at the Kitchen Garden Stage of the incredibly popular Queensland Garden Expo on July 10. In this talk, I share my passion for and knowledge about some of my favourite plants and strategies. The plants I talk about here are also very helpful for verge gardeners, small-space gardeners, and community gardeners.

Congratulations and thank you to all the volunteers who set up the WONDERFUL edible demonstration gardens at the Expo with the verge garden theme – a huge effort!! It was great to ramble through it with Costa Georgiadis, Jerry Coleby-Williams and chat with old and new friends.

This recording is 42 mins.

FILMING NOTE: This is the first time I have tried to film my own talk (I usually have a helper) and of course, I forgot about the camera. At one stage I moved too close – oops – half a head.  A few minutes later I realise and move back again – please excuse this!

Take a look at my other short films:

In my award-winning garden, Crystal Waters Permaculture Village.

Film #2: Our Permaculture Life: Community Permaculture Garden (9 mins 30 secs)


At the Yandina Community Gardens – I’ll be teaching a Permaculture course there each Friday from 23 September.

In my award-winning garden, Crystal Waters Permaculture Village

The post Film #4: Incredible Edibles Talk with Morag Gamble at the QLD Garden Expo appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Our ‘bee bush’ – the perennial basil.

What’s wrong?

Why are bees so important?

• 1/3 of all food in the world is dependent on pollination
• 3/4 pollination of main crops are pollinated by insects (most efficient are honey bees)
• so many vegetables and fruits require bees for pollination
• other pollinators include birds, bats, mammals and wind
• without bees our food sources would reduce to some grains, a few fruit species and fish. 
• grazing animals rely on clover and other bee pollinated pastures
• the more bees in your garden, the bigger your harvest will be 

.What do bees need?

• range of flowering plants makes them stronger and healthier
• plants flowering throughout the year
• open simple flowers – these are easiest for bees to collect nectar and pollen from – avoid modern hybrids with many petalled, dense flowers 
• access to fresh water
• habitat and protection – logs, hollows and homes 

My vegetable garden infused with flowers to attract beneficial insects and pollinators. Open cosmos are great, so are the fennel landing pads.

• Plant bee-friendly plants
• Avoid bee harming plants and chemicals
• Create habitat for bees and other pollinators

Create homes for native bees which also do a fabulous pollination job.

What plants attract bees?

My garden with flowering comfrey, chives, yarrow, salvia and geranium plus a little source of water for the bees.

• Basil, chives, comfrey, coriander, fennel, lavender, lemon balm, mint, mustard, oregano, parsley, rocket, rosemary, sage, thyme, yarrow,

I love watching the bees come down to land on these yarrow flowers.

• Brassicas, capsicum, chilli, cucumbers, leeks and onions, pumpkins, squash….

Female pumpkin flower

• Alyssum, calendula, cornflower, cosmos, daisies, echinacea, geranium, marigold, roses, salvia, sunflowers, zinnia

At the end of the garden bed is a collection of pollinator attractors – basil, marigold, chives, comfrey.

• Backhousia, Banksia, Brachysome, Callistemon, Eucalyptus, Grevillea, Leptospermum, Melaleuca, Westringia 

What vegies can we grow without bees?

A lettuce just beginning to flower.

Some favourite bee attractors in my permaculture garden

Red salvia is a great bee attractor that flowers for much of the year here.

The abundant flowering spikes of brassicas are so attractive to bees. I always leave lots of mustard spinach and other flowering vegetables in the garden to provide a good source of food for the bees.

Lemon myrtle attracts bees in Autumn to it’s blossoms

For more information:

More about bees, what plants to grow, and how to make an effective bee hotel, I think this resource from Valley Bees is just so useful.  Click here to read and download this fabulous free information sheet from Valley Bees.

The post How to create a bee-friendly garden. appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

There is so much to say about lemongrass, but I think I’ll start with using it as a tea. Lemongrass tea is refreshing and healthy – both the leaves and culms can be used.  It is great by itself or blended with other herbs and spices.

I love this blend of Lemongrass tea – with Lemon Myrtle, tulsi with cinnamon, ginger, honey and coriander seed – here’s my recipe for this great coffee alternative.

I grow lots of tea plants in mt garden, but Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) would have to be one of my favourites, along with Rosella, Tulsi, Turmeric and Lemon Myrtle.

Lemongrass tea has so many positive benefits. The leaves contain antioxidants and are high in folic acid, vitamin C and vitamin B and many other active ingredients.  It helps to fight colds and build your immune system and offer relief from pain.

Lemongrass Tea is Uplifting

Lemongrass Tea Soothes Headaches

Lemongrass Tea Soothes Colds

Lemongrass Tea Aids Detox

Lemongrass Tea Helps Reduce Stomach Problems

Lemongrass Tea is Safe For Children

Sundried lemongrass from yesterday’s harvest. We have several kilograms in process.

Three of my favourite Lemongrass tea blends…

Lemongrass, Turmeric and Ginger Tea

This is a great blend for a daily immune boost. Sweetened with a bit of raw honey or stevia it makes a delicious drink – hot or cold. If I am feeling the need for a bit of a ‘pick me up’ I make enough in the morning so I can have a hot cup for breakfast then fill my water bottle and sip throughout the day.

Lemongrass and Tulsi Tea

Lemongrass tulsi tea is another superb combination. Tulsi, Sacred Basil, is an ancient Ayurvedic herb. Tulsi is energising and supports immune system health.

Lemongrass and Rosella Tea

I love the colour and fruity flavour combination of Lemongrass Rosella tea. It’s a healthy blend – Rosella is high in vitamin C and lemongrass helps fight colds.

The kids love this tea too.

About Lemongrass

Lemongrass, a native to Southeast Asia, grows into massive clumps here in my garden in the subtropics. One stalk planted quickly becomes 100. In the tropics and subtropics it is a perennial plant. It can be grown in cooler climates but may need to be brought inside during the winter.

In the garden, it helps to repel mosquitos  – when brushed past, the leaves release a lovely lemony scent.  When we brush cut a contour hedge of it, our whole garden smells amazing.

Growing Lemongrass

Just one clump provides most people with enough lemongrass for their tea needs. In warmer climates it is super easy to grow and propagate.

Simply start with one plant then keep dividing the clump and planting out more (or giving away plants).

You can also grow new plants from the stems you buy, as long as they still have their base on. Place these in a jar of water for a few days until new roots form then plant out or pot up.

I often give my lemongrass clumps a haircut to promote fresh new leaf growth – to make the most of the leaves before they brown-off somewhat during winter (we typically have a few frosts).  I just did this and have dried a lot for tea. Much more to do.  I have so much lemongrass, I am going to do a lot of chop and drop around the food forest to build organic matter.

For culinary uses, I harvest lemongrass at anytime. I just cut off a few leaves from each clump, and take a few side stems if I want to use the base.

The post Feel good: Fight Colds: Reduce Headaches: Build your Immune System – Grow Lemongrass appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

The fresh healthy foods eating straight from the garden bring so many health benefits, but so do the many herbs, flowers, fruits and weeds that can be used as refreshing and healing teas.

My edible lanscape wraps around the house – food, spices, teas and natural remedies always at hand.

Two of my favourite garden teas are Rosella and Lemon Myrtle, and Lemongrass and Peppermint. I love their colours, aroma and taste. Uplifting, refreshing and cleansing. 

Maia and Hugh enjoying a cup of iced rosella tea.

Here is a small selection of teas that can be made from plants in a permaculture garden, and a brief listing of just some of the benefits they can bring.  There are of course so many more healing herbs, flowers, fruits and roots – and so many more benefits from these plants…

Chamomile

Chickweed

Dandelion

Elderberry

Ginger root

Gota kola

Lavender

Lemon Balm

Lemon Myrtle – many benefits – said to relieve muscle cramps and spasms, rheumatism, headaches and fevers. The anti-oxidants in citral help boost the immune system. It is an refreshing and calming tea.

Lemon Myrtle – an Australian native tree.

Lemongrass cut for tea

Peppermint

Rosella bush

Strawberry leaves – the dried leaves make a great tea that is a tonic and tones up the body’s intestines and appetite. It cleanses the stomach and is good for eczema and to prevent night sweats.

Strawberry leaf

Mexican tarragon

Tulsi tea – also a bee attractor.

Thyme

The post 16 Mighty Homegrown Teas: The Healing Powers of Your Edible Garden appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Holy Basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum)

Holy basil – chew leaves, make a mouth wash, dry and crush leaves and make into a toothpaste.

Liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra)

Liquorice can prevent the buildup of mouth bacteria and protect against gum disease and cavities. It contains Glycyrrhizol A, a compound with strong anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties. As an anti-inflammatory, it can also help to soothe mouth ulcers. It can be used by gently massaging teeth and gums with sun-dried licorice powder or by just chewing on a root . Liquorice is a herbaceous perennial legume from southern Europe, India, and parts of Asia. This I don’t have in my garden – so I am now looking for somewhere I can take a cutting from.

Neem (Azadirachta indica)

My research reveals that munching on a few raw neem leaves can kill bacteria in the mouth and eliminate bad breath – it also gets rid of plaque that builds up on teeth and gums. Hugh might try this as a novelty, but I can’t see him doing it daily.  An anti-bacterial mouthwash can be made by soaking neem leaves in hot water – Hugh could manage this. I think I will make a blended mouthwash with a range of plants. Another novel thing Hugh might like is making a traditional-style toothbrush using a neem twig. Some people think it is more effective than a regular toothbrush. Dried ground neem leaves can be added to a home-made tooth powder – that sounds promising.  I have a neem tree growing at home – slowly but surely.  I will be visiting it shortly!

Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

Turmeric has been used for a long time in Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine. It contains curcumin, which has antioxidant, anti-viral, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Turmeric is a rich source of some vitamins and minerals important for re-mineralizing teeth, such as Vitamin C, Calcium, Magnesium, and Selenium.  One idea I read was to chew on a piece of fresh organic turmeric root, using as many teeth as possible, for 2-5 minutes and the spit into trash or compost, followed by rinsing out your mouth thoroughly.  I’m not sure Hugh will do this, so blending this into the toothpaste too may be the way to go.

Turmeric grows easily from a fresh piece of root. This 5kg monster grew in my garden. Store in a shady bucket of sand until you need it.

Some other things we will try are:

Eucalyptus Oil

The active ingredient present in eucalyptus oil, cineole, kills the harmful bacteria responsible for bad breath. It is also improves oral health by reducing plaque formation, strengthening gums and preventing any gum bleeding. We will add a drop of eucalyptus oil onto our toothbrushes and experiment with a few drops in our mouthwash.

Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil has potent anti-microbial properties that can help gum infections. It also freshens bad breath. Similarly to eucalyptus oil, we can just add drop on our toothpaste before we brush or rinse our mouth by gargling a mouthwash with a few drops added.

Saline Solution

Salt naturally disinfects and removes swelling. A good way of using salt is by mixing a teaspoon of salt into ½ cup dissolved warm water ind swilled around in the mouth well  for about a minute. 

Home-made tooth paste

As well as trying all these things, I am going to make a special tooth paste with Hugh as soon as I gather all the ingredients. Our first experiment with be with activated charcoal, bentonite clay, peppermint, tea tree and eucalyptus oils, with dried neem and holy basil leaves and coconut oil. We might also add a little calcium carbonate powder, xylitol and cinnamon.  We’ll experiment, research more and let you know how we go.  Hugh can give feedback on the child-friendliness of the flavour.

Other ideas?

I am very interested to hear in any successful tooth enamel building methods you have encountered suitable for a 7 year old boy.

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