Entries by Debbie Worgan

Aïoli

by Deb Worgan

Ingredients
¾ cup mild or delicate olive oil
2 or 3 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
A large pinch of salt
1 egg yolk, at room temperature
Juice of half a lemon
½ tsp salt and a pinch of black pepper

Method

Place garlic, a dash of oil and salt in a food processor or a blender. Pulse for 2 seconds.
Add the egg yolk and pulse on and off … Read more »

Tomato & olive oil starter

by Deb Worgan

Ingredients
½ cup medium or robust olive oil
3 very ripe tomatoes
salt and pepper
bread stick

Method

Grate the tomatoes into a bowl (it tastes better grated rather than blitzed).
Mix in the olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
Cut the bread stick into diagonal, thin slices and toast very gently.
Spread a generous serving of the
tomatoes on the toast to serve.

Grow your garden for less

by Mark Evans

Propagating plants from cuttings is one of the easiest and most common methods of plant reproduction. It’s also the quickest way to produce an exact clone of the parent plant.
Cuttings rely on the fact that plant cells are totipotent, meaning each cell has the potential to develop into a complete plant. A single plant cell can become either a root or a shoot, which is … Read more »

What I’d rather not think about

by Jente Posthuma

translated by Sarah Timmer Harvey

reviewed by Wendy Tucker

This is the second novel from Jente Posthuma, a Dutch writer, and was among the six novels shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2024. The Booker Prize has had a few name changes and this has resulted in some confusion. The Booker Prize (now the new/old name) is for a novel published in English from writers in Commonwealth countries and Ireland. In 2005, the International Booker Prize was inaugurated for novels worldwide, that were published in English, including books translated into English, with the aim of promoting global literature. … Read more »

Zen and the art of hand-watering

By Mark Evans

I’m no liquid luddite. Our thin boundary border beds and double arms-length wide vegetable rows all have a central snake of plastic dripper line to slowly soak the soil and if I was the lawn-watering kind I would naturally choose the efficiency of a sprinkler to cast a wide, even drink. But of all the forms of home irrigation, I find hand-watering the most satisfying.

Rain is the best way to water your … Read more »

Beans – the toot fruit

by Tikka Wilson
Pulses, otherwise known as beans, are a wonderful food. Beans are legumes, meaning the seeds are produced in pods and I’ll focus on dried or tinned beans. For people who eat mostly plants, beans are a great source of protein. For those who treasure their microbiome, the little guys in your gut love beans!
The gas story
Let’s do the gas bit first. Beans contain a starch called raffinose. Humans can only … Read more »