I enjoy looking back at which posts were popular with readers. This year, a comon theme was simplify and diy. Here's the top posts (according to page views) for each month of 2013. Click on the image to be taken through to the original post. Read more →

Given my preference for buying food from family farms, I was excited to learn that 2014 is International Year of Family Farming. The year was declared by the United Nations to highlight the important role that family farms play in improving food security and preserving natural resources. Read more →

Some things are worth waiting for – and blueberries are one of them. I recently enjoyed my first blueberry for the season. That first delicious blueberry was made all the sweeter by ten months of going without. It's blueberry season here in the Hunter Valley and we recently visited Misty Valley Blueberry Farm where you can pick your own blueberries. Read more →

I stumbled across a pile of plastic toys dumped in bushland a while back. The scene clearly illustrates one of the problems with cheap plastic toys. They never ever go away. Every molecule of synthetic plastic ever created is still in existence somewhere on the planet, unless it was incinerated. Before you head out for that last minute Christmas shopping spree, stop and consider the true cost of those cheap toys. I’m sure our children really don’t need more cheap plastic rubbish. Our purchases impact their future. Read more →

At the risk of spoiling your Christmas ham, I thought I’d tell you a tale of two pigs. Free-range Charlotte Image courtesy of Tammi Jonas, Jonai Farm. Charlotte lives on a small farm producing ‘ethically raised pork’. She is free to roam, dig, wallow and forage for food. At seven months old she lives in a two acre paddock with 20 other pigs. She is moved onto fresh ground every month or so. She is happy, comfortable and healthy. Charlottes first few weeks were spent in a nursery paddock with her mum Prudence, her mums’ constant companion Pink and 20... Read more →