Archives for posts with tag: vegetables

Paris

July 6, 2013 //

Paris is the city of my dreams and I am so incredibly happy to be back here again.

Keeping our priorities straight, on the day of my arrival my sister and I went to the Marché aux fleurs on Ile de la Cité to get some plants and herbs for our apartments. Walking back with our arms full of green we could not stop smiling.

Paris Today the sun came out so we cruised around town in Pierre’s little 1984 Volkswagen and then took a stroll through the Jardin du Luxembourg. Plenty more Paris to come!

All photographs by Sophia & Olivia Kaplan.

Tags beehive, cactai, cactus, gardening, ile de la cite, jardin du luxembourg, maison des insectes, marche aux fleurs, paris, seine, Urban gardening, vegetables, volkswagen

Categories Flowers, Garden, Photography, Photos by Sophia, Plants, Travel

Wollombi & Laguna

May 1, 2013 //

This past weekend I celebrated my birthday with a four day getaway to a friend’s place in Wollombi. We wiled away most of our days lazing in the sun on the big balcony overlooking the valley. On Saturday I spent the morning visiting some great people down the road at Laguna Earth House (more on that in a moment) and in the evening everyone helped prepare a delicious paella which we ate around the fire pit we cooked it on.

Laguna Earth House is owned by the charming Rosie and Nigel. The main house was self-built with the help of their son using environmentally friendly mud bricks, straw bale and locally sourced timber, and is fitted with solar panels for all their energy needs. The garden is an overflowing bounty of organic fruit, vegetables, herbs and salad leaves. Rosie and Nigel are self taught gardeners and builders and are now keen to share their knowledge through workshops in organic gardening, alternative building techniques and other sustainable practices.

Check out their Facebook page for regular updates and information on upcoming workshops. Next up is ‘Autumn Food Preserving and Fermentation’ on 18 May.

A very warm thank you to Rosie, Nigel and Andy for sharing their home and garden with us.

All photographs by Sophia Kaplan.

Tags bush, citrus, fruit, garden, laguna, laguna earth house, mud brick, organic, organic gardening, paella, solar, sustainable building, vegetables, wollombi

Categories Architecture, Flowers, Food, Garden, Nature, Photos by Sophia, Plants, Travel

Waiheke Island

April 9, 2013 //

I’ve just returned from an incredibly relaxing extra long weekend on Waiheke Island, New Zealand.

The island lies 35 minutes ferry ride from Auckland. We were there to visit my aunt and uncle, who sailed into one of the island’s bays 22 years ago and have remained there ever since. They live in a beautiful cliff top house above an almost private little nudist beach. Their garden has some of the best views and is overflowing with zucchinis, beetroot, pumpkins, spinach, beans, feijoa, tomatoes, tamarillos and lots of herbs.

While in NZ we were also lucky enough to be invited to local girl Lorde’s first show. She is only 16 and is about to take off. Check out one of her tracks below. More here.