patch 2 plate

I believe you can create delicious dishes using fruit and vegetables from your

own patch!
Join me for expert tips on growing seasonal fruit and vegetables and then create some delicious recipes from your home-grown produce!

Hi, I'm Kat!

A bit more about me...

I am a gardener, cook, and writer who lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales.

I made the tree change in 2018 and established an extensive vegetable patch and food forest on my property, along with a cool climate vineyard, Dawning Day Farms.

I have always loved writing and in my younger years I achieved a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney in 1999 and was the editor and co-editor respectively of Australian travel industry publications Cruise Weekly and Travel Daily.

In recent years I have combined my passion for writing with my love of gardening and food to write delicious recipes.

I am also a wife, and the mother of three beautiful children and have a dog named Kevin and a cat called Tony.

Bio

Excerpts

The old woman disappeared into the back of the shop. The faint sound of boxes being moved and the woman muttering to herself drifted out through the curtains.

Ocean glanced at Rufus. He was standing in the doorway of the shop, his arms crossed in front of him. He gave Ocean a pained look. Patience was not one of Rufus' personality traits. Ocean smiled back at him sweetly.
After a moment the woman returned to the counter carrying something.

‘What are your names?’ she said.
‘Ah, I'm Ocean, and that's my brother Rufus and my sister Daisy,' Ocean said, pointing toward his siblings.

‘Mm, hmm,’ she said, not looking up.

There was some rustling and then the sound of sticky tape being pulled out of a dispenser. Finally, three loud thumps as if she were stamping something.
‘Here you go, then,’ she said, stepping out from behind the counter.

She thrust a brown paper bag at him. Ocean reached out to take it but she didn't release it immediately. Instead, she took a step towards him. She was so close, he could see a thick lather of purple eyeshadow surrounding her intense, blue eyes and the faint smell of hydrangeas filled his nostrils.

‘Books are very precious, Ocean, but I think you know that, don’t’ you?’ she said, gazing at him.

'They all have something to tell us if we have the eyes to see, and the ears to hear,’ the woman continued. 'Some say they choose us.’

Daisy stared at the front gates of Moonton Public School and bit her lip. The school holidays had flown by and now, unfortunately it had arrived. The first day at a new school.

She wished there had been a guide she could have read, one like the ones her dad was always studying...'A Dummies Guide to Making New Friends for the Shy and Verbally Challenged’.

‘Everything is going to be fine,’ her mother said for the tenth time that morning.

Daisy however couldn’t shake the nervous feeling in her stomach or ignore her clammy palms and dry throat.

She was almost as scared as she had been when she started Kindergarten, only this time Rhona, her year six buddy wasn't going to be there to help her.

Daisy studied the country school a bit closer. It didn’t look that scary. It was actually kind of pretty, and different from their old school in the city. Less concrete and more trees. Giant trees, towering over the playground like soldiers poised ready to break up any lunchtime battles.

Children were squealing and laughing, and she saw flashes of bright yellow uniforms as they darted about the playground. They sounded happy, excited to be back for the start of a new year of school. Some of them were probably reuniting with friends they hadn’t seen all school holidays.

She remembered what that felt like, only Daisy didn’t know anyone at Moonton Public School, so how was everything going to be fine?

THE MOGGS OF MOONTON BOOK II

THE MOGGS OF MOONTON BOOK I

Homegrown