Heron's Flight Blog

We went to the Winter Gardens at the Auckland Domain because my sister Bronwen was over here from Thailand and she doesn't get to see spring flowers there. It's too close to the Equator.

As it happens we spent a lot of time in the Tropical House, where she was able to show us some of the fabulous orchids she grows at her resort: www.faasai.co.th. It was warmer there too.

The spring weather made the family a bit skittish, and even my mum (Audrey Evans 86) joined in.

The leaves and feathers which appear in various forms and configurations on our publications are a symbol of transformation - of the movement between one form and another as soil is created, and plants spring from the ground.

Those of you who make compost will share my excitement when I discovered that human hair when it falls out contains many minerals which are good to put back into the soil.

It's come to that season again when everything is growing and I can't get to it fast enough to cook it. We picked the delicious little plums just befor Christmas and I made a couple of plum cakes from Stephanie Alexander's Garden Cook book but am having to throw some to the chickens.

I have put up a recipe for Anzac Biscuits and will put the plum cake recipe up for those who are fleet enough to get them before the birds.