If you need a ray of sunshine in the depths of a dark and stormy winter in Perth, simply plant citrus trees. Ripening throughout the winter season, the fresh, sweetly …
Category: Gardening

Portland’s hidden urban farms
Hidden a mere 15-minute drive from downtown Portland, in the city’s North East, is the unexpected semi-rural neighbourhood of Cully, which is brimming with urban farmlets growing food, flowers and …

Fecund figs
Ooh, it just sounds sexy doesn’t it? And figs, they look like, well, we all know what they look like. But pulling apart a soft, ripe fig, warm from the …

I pomodori magnifici
Getting into the spirit of all things Italian is easy when you’re harvesting these magnificent beauties from your garden. Oh how I love this time of year in my garden …

Fruits of our labours
The relentless heat of a Perth summer is easier to bear when the work you put into your garden starts to bear fruit, literally. Plum-tastic Two years in a row …

May the Micro-Force be with you
I am a fan of the SBS TV program Gourmet Farmer and I remember an episode from last season I think when Matthew Evans explored the benefits of adding microbes to …

Dig on Dad
My Dad’s been gone now for nearly 14 years. Time has, of course, softened the loss but I know that he will always drift into my thoughts when I’m in …

Rootin’ around
While waiting impatiently for my new work contract to begin, I have been keeping busy in my favourite way: harvesting the last winter crops from my garden and working out …

A healthy addiction
I am addicted to buying seeds. I don’t need any more; have way more than I can possibly sow or plant. But I go a little giddy when the gardening …

Rangpur lime gimlets, oh baby!
I wasn’t sure how I was going to use my first ever harvest of Rangpur limes. A friend had given me a stunted little tree in a pot and it had …

The Preservation Society
“Father: It’s been nine months since my last confession.”Nah, I’m not religious but Holy Moly has it been a long time between drinks on this blog! Busy, busy, yeah you’ve …

Medicinal lunchbox for happy chooks
Now that we have reticulation to approximately 90% of Edgefield, a world of opportunity for planting perennials has opened up, which was previously unsustainable. Slowly but surely I’m developing the perennial …

Rockmelon, but not as you know it
Yes this is rockmelon (or cantaloupe for my North American friends) not pumpkin. It’s an heirloom variety called ‘Delice de la Table’ and it’s fragrant, juicy, firm and absolutely delicious. …

Sunshine & love in a jar
We simply couldn’t eat them fast enough, those soft, scarlet globes of goodness. Something had to be done because there was no way I was going to watch the mountain …

Abundance in Gidgegannup
At the invitation of a dear old school friend, we recently headed to her glorious farm ‘Lilydale’ in Gidgegannup (15 minutes from Edgefield in Mundaring) for a divine afternoon of swimming, …

Blissed out on tomatoes
This is what it’s all about. We arrived home from our two-week holiday in Denmark after a 5 ½ hour drive to a clean house, dinner in the fridge (thanks …

Reticulation monster bites
I didn’t get past Day 1 in my blog posts about Edgefield’s reticulation project because it morphed into a monster that devoured our time and money in a way we …

Sweet sweet peas
My flower arranging skills might need some practice but they don’t detract from these gorgeous sweet peas that are rambling wildly over the arbour in my vegie patch.

This is why I garden
I don’t often post food photos but I should because this is one of the main reasons I garden, so I can eat food like this, straight from my patch …