My basic stock recipe starts with picking a large bouquet of garni,from the garden.

Ingredients for a bouquet of garni

Sprigs of parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, bay leaves. Tie the herbs together with cooking twine.

Other ingredients

A few slices of fresh ginger
2 medium to large chopped fresh carrots
2 – 3 whole cloves
6  – 10 whole allspice(pimento)
1 bunch green tops of spring onions
1 leek, green tops only
2 cinnamon sticks
a couple of small whole red chillies
1 sprig of lovage
1 teaspoon cardamon pods
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
a few whole black peppercorns
2 whole star anise
1 teaspoon rock or sea salt
4 litres of water

Soup spices.

Method

Place all of the ingredients in a heavy based pot.
At this point you can add any odd amounts of left-over vegetables you may have forgotten about in the vegetable draw of your refrigerator.

Now place a lid on your pot, bring to the boil and simmer for at least 2 hours. Allow to cool then strain your liquid off, pour into freezer containers or place in bottles ready for preserving.