Wine and cheese are classic buddies, and pairings from the mountains anywhere are among my favourites. I live in the Swiss Alps, at 1,100 metres, with a small herd of beautiful Val d’Hérens cows next door; in spring and fall they eat down the pastures that surround my garden, and in early winter I listen […]
Garden & nature
Exposition: north and south vineyards in Valais
Heading home this morning from physio I took the road from Crans-Montana to Sierre, past the vineyards of Corin and other villages, on the north side of the Rhone. Here you see the south-facing slopes, which get a healthy dose of sunshine all winter. The sun is finally rising above the mountains in this spot, […]
Solving 2 problems with a raspberry
We forgot that 15 August is a holiday, so our cupboard was barer than expected. Nevertheless, we managed to have a fresh fish dinner – pan-fried – with a mix of wild rice, rice and quinoa. The plan to add a green salad from the garden fell through when the skies opened and there were […]
Warm winter, early budding – clues to change
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Hazelnut trees began to bud throughout Switzerland 15 December 2015, the earliest since records have been kept, more than 150 years. Meteoswiss published information this week about the early budding and other signs that warming is happening earlier and earlier. A number of plants are showing leaves a week earlier than in […]
S Italian bees threaten Swiss ones
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss honey bees are under threat from a small beehive beetle that feeds on their larvae and honey, which is making its way north. The Swiss government Wednesday declared battle with the beetle, issuing a series of guidelines that make it illegal to import used material, hives or honey for hives from […]