Cairi Balmain has years of experience growing vegetables and fruits in her garden in the Shetland Islands where the weather is extremely challenging. She also makes traditional, cold process, botanical soaps and botanical balms from home grown herbs and flowers.

Now moved to the Highlands, in her regular column, Cairi will share the challenges and solutions she has found to successfully grow her own food and flowers.

You can follow Cairi’s vegetable growing and botanical soap making adventures on her Instagram account.

“I think growing our own food is increasingly important these days, and we should all try and grow what we can, whether we live in a city or a remote island. Local grown food is tied to the seasons and is better for the environment and our own health.”