the most thoughtful of christmas presents

If you want to show your love for someone, build them a veggie garden. That's what my family did for me last year as a surprise and I still get choked up thinking about it.

While Chris, Bassie and I were away on holidays last Christmas, my mum, dad, elder sister, brother-in-law, five-year-old niece and two-year-old nephew secretly built us a veggie garden in a neglected patch of our back yard. My sister is a natural green thumb and she wanted us to experience the simple glee of growing food with little Bassie like she does with her cherubs. 

When we returned from our holiday and I first stumbled across our magic garden, I couldn't believe my eyes. There it stood - as if it had sprouted from the dirt - pretty as a picture. It was full of mint, thyme, sage, basil, eggplants, green beans, baby tomatoes and a chilli bush. There were pink flowers dotted all around and the veggie name tags were written in my mum's beautiful calligraphy handwriting. Apparently the littlies had helped count out the screws that held the bed together. I felt so loved.

Sadly, I soon killed our garden with kindness (I think I may have overfertilised it). After its second planting, our resident possums ate every green morsel in one sitting. Its third planting got flooded out by rain. But finally, with a new net and lots of attention, I am proud to say our garden is starting to flourish. 

Bassie and I love spending time near our veggie patch in the afternoons. We potter about pretending we know what we're doing. While I water the patch and pluck out weeds and fallen tree bark, Bassie keeps very busy - poking holes in the soil with his chubby fingers, making mud puddles at my feet, sticking his hand in front of the water spout and licking the cool drops off his fingers. And I'm sure he would sit and twist that hose for hours if I let him. We are so happy here. 

Thank you, my beautiful family. x

NOTE: If you want to see a real veggie garden in action, check out this stunning film vignette of Fig and Fauna Farm in South Florida filmed by the super talented Tiger in a Jar. I consider this film to be meditation. It is just so peaceful and dreamy. 

published pieces: salt magazine - lucy walter

The summer edition of Salt magazine is out on the Sunshine Coast this week and it's available online here too. Acting editor Claire Plush has taken some stunning photos to accompany my story, 'Living a Kinder Life' (and online here) on raw food chef, restaurateur and animal activist Lucy Walter. 

I was on a high after meeting Lucy on her pretty farm in Maleny, which she and her husband have turned into a private sanctuary for abused and neglected farmyard animals. We sat on Lucy's peaceful Queenslander porch, looking out over the Mary Valley, and chatted for an hour while the dogs she has rescued sat at our feet (and sometimes on our laps), lapping up the constant pats and ear scratches. One of her rescued pigs, Brutus, even trotted over to say hello. 

Lucy is such a positive and proactive soul. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis seven years ago, she revolutionised her diet to become a raw food and vegan devotee and has managed to rid her body of M.S. symptoms. Along the way, she opened The Kind Living Cafe in Maleny, published a cook book, and has begun hosting raw food cooking classes. I believe her story will inspire anyone who is looking to live a kinder, healthier life. 

NOTE: I also loved Linda Read's Salt story on Smile Clothing, a for-profit Sunshine Coast company with a mission to "Give first. Wear Second. For every item of clothing we sell, we will donate a school uniform or t-shirt to a child in need." Linda notes that so far, Smile Clothing has given away 5000 garments to children in countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Kenya and India. 

Image above: Mint and rosemary going great guns in my garden.

homegrown honey is liquid gold

A little hand reaches for a little jar of homegrown honey. Both subjects are pure, petite, and made with love.

** Thank you to Mel, Dave and Delilah. Such a treat. I wish you well with your new Downtown Honey Co. venture - to bring urban beekeeping to Brisbane's rooftops and gardens. I did not know that bees dance or of the pagan myth that bees spread our important news on their bee-buzzing journeys. I will ponder these intriguing bee facts as I devour this honey drizzled over chunks of parmesan. Yummmmm. x

a boy and a pineapple

Is this perhaps the cutest baby pineapple there ever was? It arrived in our weekly Food Connect fruit and veggie box this week and managed to entertain little Bassie on this spring afternoon. He couldn't quite figure out if he liked touching it or if he really didn't AT ALL. 

I have a post I'd like to share soon about Food Connect and Community Supported Agriculture, but my wireless is giving me issues and Food Connect's website is down too! It's just not meant to be today.

I'm off to cover a story this weekend at an amazing organic health retreat in the Gold Coast hinterland but it will be my first weekend away from Bassie and I'm really not sure how I feel about this yet. He's in good hands with his dad and my mum (thank you, mama!) so I know he will be fine, and I need a recharge so I'm sure I will be more than fine. The wise women around me (i.e. my sister, sisters-in-law and friends) who have been through this 'first-time away' thing tell me the anticipation of leaving is worse than the actual experience of being away. Let's hope they're right. 

When my mum asked me today what I'm most looking forward to about this weekend, I replied that I intend to swim in the infinity pool, and to sit under a tree and stare over the valley for hours on end. All I crave is to be still and quiet. To stretch and to sit. To dream and to breathe. Simple really.

*This adorable pineapple also gave me a good excuse to play with my new portrait lens, a 50mm f/1.8.  
**The photos below are of Bassie getting bored with the whole thing and on the right, biting into a filthy shoe to get my attention away from the camera. 
*** The top image uses my new favourite backdrop, which you'll be seeing a lot of in this space. I love our gum tree that shelters our porch and is right now dropping seed pods, which make the LOUDEST CRACK when they hit our tin roof.

published pieces: yasmin levy, map magazine

I interviewed Israeli singer and songwriter Yasmin Levy for the November edition of map magazine. The story lives online here. I felt so happy after our chat as Yasmin exuded such infectious joy down the phone line - it spilled out of her in the most natural and grateful way. 

Yasmin is living the dream as she tours the world with her band (along with her husband and their 13-month-old son), singing traditional Ladino songs with a contemporary twist to keep her heritage alive. Ladino is an archaic form of Spanish and considered a "dying" language. It's sad to think that stories and memories can be lost forever in words no longer spoken.

map's November edition also offers an interview here by editor Mikki Brammer with Matt Pember of The Little Veggie Patch Co. It's such a fun little Q and A to read. Matt and his business partner, Fabian, have started facilitating veggie plots on top of a carpark in Federation Square in Melbourne's CBD. Another reminder that growing food is for everyone, everywhere. 

to health and deadlines

A little tear slides down his cheek ... We're both a little worse for wear today. Bassie is teething and I often go down hill after I've put a run of stories to bed. That's when I retreat to my parents' house because mum always makes everything better. Right now she's making me sweet potato and quinoa salad for lunch while the boy sleeps. I love her. 

I'm gluten intolerant and not so great with dairy either, which you think would motivate me to avoid the stuff. I eat mostly whole foods and fresh produce and I love to cook but when story deadlines are looming I tend to let my guard down and eat whatever is easiest, which is often of the bread variety. After I eat bits of gluten for a few days in a row, the nausea sets in, the guilt follows soon after and then I really feel terrible! 

When the deadline fog has lifted, I immediately attempt to repair the damage by visiting these sites for gluten-free eating and living inspiration: Cannelle et Vanille, Sarah Wilson, and Jude Blereau. The Gwinganna Health Retreat recipe book, "Gwinganna ... from garden to gourmet" is also full of delicious recipes for gluten- and dairy-free whole food meals. 

But this self-sabotage has to stop. My new plan of action when I see story deadlines on the horizon is to stock the pantry and prepare protein-filled salads for the fridge. I must start applying the same care and attention to preparing meals for myself as I do for Bassie. I need to apply "aeroplane rules", as my husband likes to call it: it's important to fit your own oxygen mask before assisting others.

Every day is a new day, I like to tell myself. I wonder when I will learn? 

(P.S. Tips for finding dietary willpower are most welcome.)

published pieces: Elisabeth Harvey and Michael Ableman

For map magazine's August eco edition I interviewed Brisbane fashion designer and photographer Elisabeth Harvey about her new sustainable underwear label, Nico Underwear. It's just become the first underwear brand in Australia to receive accreditation by Ethical Clothing Australia. Her story lives online here. I also interviewed American farmer, author, speaker and educator Michael Ableman about his life quest to encourage everyone to grow food. His piece lives online here. I loved these interviews.