For a bit of inspiration Mum and i went to visit the kitchen garden at mt Coot-tha botanic gardens (Toowong) this morning. Its a great place to go to see whats growing in the Brisbane climate and how they are growing it. The orchard is right next to the kitchen garden area and you cant visit the kitchen garden without a little 2 min walk over to the Japanese Garden where we sat in the shade and admired the serenity and watched the dragonflies. https://photos.app.goo.gl/RWgmuVXVgYGrb1J26

I mentioned making these drinks from tumeric in the comments yesterday. My tumeric and ginger are growing well around the garden and im looking forward to the beginning of winter when I can start harvesting and using it. Ive made fire cidar vinegar twice now at the beginning of winter. I use in witholive oil as a salad dressing and also add hot water and honey to make it a hot drink. Good for an immune boost. https://www.herbcottage.com.au/blogs/grow-your-health/fire-cider-recipe Jamu is an Indonesian health drink. Looking at all the recipes they are a bit different but the main ingredients appear to be tumeric, ginger, lemon and honey simmered together. SPICED JAMU Chopped ginger Chopped tumeric Some slices of lemon or lime Cinnamon stick A few cloves Peppercorns Star anise Lemon grass Add a bit of water and simmer away. I keep it on the stove the whole day so that whoever is sick with colds or flu can top up with water and re simmer and get multiple drinks out of it. We add honey to it before drinking it too. I can't say if it actually helps the cold/flu, but I think it probably does and people feel loved and cared for if you make some up for them.

The other day I picked a pineapple and was so excited as the ones I grow usually taste so sweet and juicy. About 2 years ago a neighbour gave me some tops from a red ornamental variety, The fruit was small but the leaves were a lovely deep red colour. Anyway when I cut my pineapple it was full of seeds and not so tasty so I did some research and found that pineapples will cross pollinate if you have different varieties so I will pick off the small red fruits in future.