Life made simple

Get down 'n earthy.

You don’t really need a garden. If you live in a flat, plant some herbs, or a pretty little chilli bush or two.

The digital revolution has taken our hands hostage. Our fingers are always jabbing at the keyboard of a laptop. We’re tapping on a smartphone, we’re sending text messages, or fiddling on a tablet. We’re uploading and downloading, posting to social media, liking or commenting or sharing.

And we’re mostly doing it while at a desk – or warming a chair, or a sofa or a bed. Every day, for hours.

Do you know what your hands want?

They want you to get them dirty, in some soil. (And FYI, people: There’s nothing ‘dirty’ or ‘soiled’ about the soil we grow our plants in. There are a million more germs on your phone screen than in any flowerbed.)

Your hands remember the old days of digging in squelchy mud under a warm sun. They want to go back there. They want you to plant something in your garden, to grow something that’s not a social media following. They want you to feel like a human again.

“But I don’t have a garden,” you sigh.

You don’t really need a garden. If you live in a flat, plant some herbs, or chillis. Get it going. If you do have a garden, get busy, and make more of it. Discover the triumphant joy of harvesting your own cherry tomatoes, your own basil and your own jalapenos.

And then, what to do when your chilli bush is heaving with lovely fresh homegrown chillis? Here’s what.

Recipe | Sweet Mint & Chilli Dressing

15g fresh coriander leaves
15g fresh mint leaves
1 x 2cm piece fresh ginger
1 small green chilli
½ cup oil
30g castor sugar

To make the sweet mint and chilli dressing: Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process until a fine liquid forms. Add more oil if necessary. Pour over the salad just before serving or serve on the side.

Dressing recipe via Taste.

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