We think about food pretty much constantly. Jo and I both love cooking, eating, growing, learning and talking about food – and our business makes sure we do that every day, whether we want to or not! We’ve had numerous beer-fuelled conversations about where our business is going, where it fits in the world, where food is going, where it should be going, what we’d change about the world of food if we could. The Edible Flower is basically an excuse to spend our time exploring all of these issues. Now, it’s time to include you in the conversation.

This was our first full year of growing at our smallholding on Middle Road. When we first moved in last October we hired a turf cutter and basically decimated one half of the front garden, cutting out six 9×3 metre vegetable beds. This allows us to have a six year crop rotation – so my life will now be divided up into six year chunks and by the time the alliums are in the bed nearest the house again I’ll be 41! We’ve chosen to grow all our vegetables organically using the no-dig method, which means we don’t dig down into the soil but instead allow the plants roots and the activity of the worms and other creepy crawlies to gently create an aerated soil structure over time.

These fishcakes (Tod Mun Pla ) are a Thai classic, but they are easy to make at home after a trip to your local Asian supermarket to pick up a few ingredients – tapioca flour is essential here as it gives the fishcakes their uniquely springy and spongy texture.

We went to Maine for the wedding of two of our favourite people, Alexis & Andrew. I met Alexis a couple of years ago when we shared a cottage and a life-changing cooking adventure at Ballymaloe Cookery School. We’ve both changed our lives and careers a lot since then, mostly for the better I think.

The weather has been so miserable and rainy today that I’ve been craving warming, autumnal flavours in the form of something I can eat on the sofa while watching the Great British Bake Off on catch up.

I think nettle soup sometimes gets a bit of a bad rap, perhaps it just seems a bit too worthy or maybe people are put off by remembered childhood stings on knees and elbows. When collecting nettles you should probably wear thick gloves to prevent any stings (unless you are much hardier than me), I find heavy gardening gloves are good for picking them and then rubber gloves for washing and stripping the leaves off any thick stems.

A hearty classic, delicious fresh flavours and double carbs, what else could you need?

A wee Irish Twist on the Italian classic.

This is my recipe for Thai Sticky Rice with Mango or Khao Neow Mamuang as it is known in Thailand. This is a classic Thai dessert, I’ve spoken to people who claim the main reason they go to Thailand is to feast on this recipe every single day of their holiday.

These muffins are refined sugar-free as the sweetness comes from the apple sauce, a ripe mashed banana and some maple syrup. With the raisins added in you could almost count these as one of your five-a-day.

This will keep for months in an airtight container.

Fresh herbs are big part of Mexican cuisine. In Mexico this soup is made with hierba santa, which is part of the pepper family (piperaceae) and has a spicy, aniseedy flavour.