community*
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hen the Covid-19 pandemic catapulted them out of the corporate world, Julia and Mike Harding looked no further than their own Waterfall garden for ingredients to make delicious and healthy snacks and condiments that could be sold from local markets. The couple’s homely Waterfall cottage is populated with a huge collection of cookery books and two contented rescue cats, and surrounded by a wonderful wild garden filled with herbs and fruit trees such as litchis, bananas, tamarillos, Chinese guavas, ruby and white grapefruit, lemons and peaches. It is here that Mint Condition Deli Products was born, and from where the home-grown
Without a healthy gut lining, it is difficult for the body to absorb the important vitamins, minerals and antioxidants it needs gut health which, they point out, is at the root of a number of modern day ailments. “Without a healthy gut lining, it is difficult for the body to absorb the important vitamins, minerals and antioxidants it needs,” Mike explains. One of the Mint Condition products
Home-grown
PASSION
recipes for a range of products that include biltong and dry wors, marmalade, a basil and a rocket pesto, roasted courgette and chickpea hummus, red and green harissa paste and dehydrated mushrooms and pineapple originate. These contain no preservatives, artificial flavourants or colouring. Lemon juice and olive oil ensure that they stay fresh for three weeks in the fridge. All are packaged in reusable and recyclable glass. The couple drew on their passion for food and their experience in the business and hospitality sectors to start their own business; they are buying freshly harvested vegetables from a nearby farmer and working closely with experts to grow their range to include food-based health remedies. Their own research and experience has confirmed the importance of restoring good
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ABOVE: Mike and Julia in the garden that inspired their business, Mint Condition. that has raised a great deal of interest is kombucha, an effervescent tea that is rich in probiotics and has been used by the Chinese, Japanese and Russians for centuries. They both enjoy a 200ml glass of kombucha every day and believe that it
SHIRLEY LE GUERN MEETS THE COUPLE BEHIND MINT CONDITION DELI PRODUCTS has not only restored their own gut health but boosted their energy and even relieved the chronic eczema from which Julia has suffered for most of her life. Another is kimchi, a fermented cabbage based relish that harnesses the same good bacteria (lactobacilli) found in yogurt and other fermented dairy products. In addition to Chinese cabbage, this Korean recipe includes white radish, carrot, fresh ginger, fresh garlic and onion (which are antibacterial) and fresh chilli which is packed with vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant and immune system booster. “We eat kimchi with anything and everything, it’s so delicious. There is no way I would sell something that I’m not 100% sure of,” Mike stresses. Julia explains that one of their greatest challenges right now is that they have
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