How often would you eat something with a bushfood?

[Shalem]

About how often in a week or a month would you be exposed to eating something that contained a bushfood element?

What inspires you or motivates you to do it?

Do you cook it yourself, buy it or have someone else cook it for you?

I hope these questions aren't too personal, but the reason I ask is that I can get so caught up with life, its chores, and cooking lots of dishes that aren't related to bushfoods, that I totally forget about cooking up bush tucker.

[Bluetongue]

I'm growing Island Celery (Apium insulare) which is perennial, and I usually gnaw on a leaf a day. My home-made yoghurt has strawberry gum leaf added. Two or three times a week I'll have some kangaroo meat. About once a week I make a pot of River Mint (Mentha australis) or Aniseed Myrtle tea. Apart from the occasional use of Mountain Pepper leaf or native spinach (also from the garden) at dinnertime, and Outback Spirit's Wild Rosella jam, that's about it for me. I discovered some Tasmanian Bush Pepper cheese at the supermarket, but they've since stopped selling it.

I eat them coz I like the taste and only have my own tastebuds to consider at the moment. The plants are hardy and easy to grow in my little garden. In the past I've also had Lemon Myrtle and Round-leaf Mint Bush (Prostanthera rotundifolia), and used them for flavouring. Hmm, it's about time I bought some replacement plants! Thanks for the memory jog

[eataust]

I'm a tad obsessive about native produce because, well, it's our very own flavours. Also I'm the wanky foodie type and love new flavours, and particularly love knowing about something that other people don't :)

I've spent quite a few years now educating myself and my taste buds, and gradually accumulating a cupboard full of bush flavours. It's now automatic for my brain to think "hmm, needs more native pepper" or "that could do with some akadjura" as readily as it does "definitely needs more garlic" or "wonder what that would be like with carrots".

That's what I'm aiming for; that native flavours become as entrenched in a cook's flavour/scent repertoire as the other flavours, and that they're as readily available as the exotics.

It takes a bit of time, and certainly time and money, to do this. But it's getting easier ...

[Bluetongue]

wanky foodie type, lol. Good on you, eataust, lol. I need you closer, to teach me how to cook!

Personally I'd love to be eating more in the fruit and vegetable area, like yam daisies, bulbine lilies. At the moment I don't even have an appleberry or native raspberry plant. Outrageous!

[eataust]

I've just planted vanilla lillies, have found a wild appleberry (yay!), and planted native raspberries.

I'm about to give up on midyimberries - I'll give them one last chance in one last location, but I just can't seem to keep them alive and well in our climate. I think they don't do well in our extremes of heat/dry, cold/dry, sodden/dusty. It's a pity because I love them dearly, but they need too much attention that I can't give to them right now.

One last attempt in a location where I can give them better attention and better soil; if they don't survive there, then they go on the backburner until I have improved soil and shelter and irrigation for them.

I've just planted a heap of saltbush so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully the chooks eat it as forage :)