Breakfasts at the Torridon are really special. How do you like your eggs; over-easy, sunny-side up, fried or boiled? We have a special egg-like treat in the kitchen garden too; the smiling yellow centres of the (inedible) poached egg plant, limnanthes douglasii. This plant is a native of North America and a favourite of bees. [...]

We use all sorts of wild flowers and herbs in the Torridon kitchen. Take the piquant wild garlic (allium ursinum), for example, which is added to our potato and leek soup or its leaves gently chopped into a fresh salad, decorated with its wonderful white, star-shaped flowers. In 2009, my friend Miles Irving published his [...]

Things in the garden are looking up, like the view of this snail I got grazing on the Lobaria lichens on one of old trees. The snail’s pace of winter changing to spring has speeded up towards summer. It was over 40 degrees in the greenhouse the other day with the windows open. Sometimes, plants [...]

Our Japonica quince as been flowering this month on the south gable of the potting shed. Chanomeles japonica quinces come in a wide variety of colours: lime green, white, pink and our own bright scarlet. If you would like a painting holiday in the Highlands, there are plenty of worthwhile subjects for the artist around [...]

Our Balsam poplars are bursting into leaf and bud and the scent of toffee apples and candy floss hang in the air. Makes me think we should encourage Bruno the Torridon chef to create my favourite sweet dish, brandy snaps and cream. The scent of the poplar protects the emerging sticky buds from insect attack. [...]