Prickly pear (Opuntia stricta) was first planted in Australia in 1788 at the instruction of Governor Phillip as a food source for the insect used to produce red dye for the uniforms of British soldiers. However, by the mid-1920s, the invasive weed had spread far beyond its original industrial use to 24 million hectares – […]
Imagine the sound of thick, rich cream splashing and slopping against the insides of this glass jar, as one of its owners, Ella or Ada Mellshimer of Ulladulla, wound the handle to move the paddle inside. Nearly every kitchen in Australia had a butter churn in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and this […]
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