There is an abundance of flowers that one can eat. Particularly in summer. Don’t be too greedy though, leave plenty for the butterflies, bees and beetles. If you spot a critter in a flower, just leave it be and move on to another bloom. Just pick off the petals, don’t eat the stamen and anthers…
Street Food
Burritos and bunny chow, amagwinya or hot dogs? No. I mean the free food growing in the cracks in our pavements, along the verges outside suburban homes, on street corners and unkempt edges in parking lots. Once you start looking, it’s astonishing how much nutrient-dense food is available all around us. I get terribly excited…
ReWild Your Life
I’m pretty sure the people reading this article are passionate about wilderness, the protection of wild spaces, and accept that rewilding needs to include a mass recovery of ecosystems across the globe. On a grand scale, rewilding is about letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes, repairing damaged ecosystems and restoring degraded landscapes….
Wild Harvesting Wild Seed
I have long been an admirer of Vandana Shiva. Her work seeks to restore connections, tell the stories of the seeds, and, in the process of saving seeds, save humanity – and much other biodiversity – is inspiring. Vandana Shiva is the keynote speaker at this year’s Slow Seed Summit, sponsored by Slow Food USA….
Sorghum
For many years, I have been buying ‘birdseed’ at the pet shop. Not to feed our garden birds, but for tasty breakfasts, lunches, and suppers for myself. These days, sorghum is a lot more mainstream and available in other stores too. It is the same thing. The ‘human’ sorghum has been cleaned more, while the…
An Accidental Ode to Potatoes
It’s potato season in the KZN Midlands. It’s also the time of year when Terra Madre Day is celebrated. This annual Slow Food event held on 10 December, is a favourite of mine. I love the idea that we are connecting with thousands of people across the globe celebrating good, clean, fair food and diverse…
Free State Forage
Social media connections set me on the road North to forage in the Free State this month. Along the unkempt road verges beside chemical drenched, ploughed up, bare fields (used for growing sunflowers, maize, sorghum, and soya), our indigenous poppy Papaver aculeatum was blooming. I adore this little flower and for all its delicacy, admire…
iizinja zasemaMpondweni
Ever since my first visit emaMpondweni in 2012, I have loved the dogs I met. This year, I turned 60. In lieu of the usual sort of celebratory gifts, I asked friends to contribute towards a sterilisation clinic for Mngcambeni village, Khutwini. I have visited there a few times and got to know the…
Morsels of Morning
After a long fallow period when poems did not come easily to me, I decided I was over thinking things. On my morning walks, I am often inspired by something I see – the colour of the sky, shape of a tree, a creature that crosses my path, and the moon, always the moon. Occasionally…
Plant Abundance 