Gardening on this scale will provide your family with a really healthy gourmet diet even if both your money and your time are tightly budgeted. It will provide a true sense of security: whatever else happens you will always eat, and eat well. It will provide an area of creativity in a sometimes treadmill existence, and an area of serenity in a sometimes madcap world.
Linda Woodrow, The Permaculture Home Garden
(photos below are of the fruits and vegetables harvested
from our backyard garden in December)
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Pretty garden stuff (and garden!).
Thanks for the reminder – we wait, with baited breath, for the rains to stop!
Thanks Doc! I hope they stop soon for you!
Such bounty!
This system obviously works wonderfully for you- add in the chickens and eggs and you really are in the midst of the good life- and in only one year!
May every year be filled with such produce.
I heard on the weather channel that Australia has received a lot of rain and that there is summer snow in Tasmania?
Hopefully YOUR gardens are fine.
Heidi, thank you! And that’s exactly right, the system works so well for us. Because of the chooks, we don’t do any digging or much weeding, and apart from planting and harvesting (and staking the tomatoes), there’s very little daily maintenance the garden requires. And because we only plant a few of each vegetable, we basically get our daily eating veg and not a huge surplus more.
Weather here has been a bit crazy! The wind came through a week ago and blew over the corn stalks (which are fine, as they can apparently grow on their sides) and our only big damage was the cherry tomato “tree”, which toppled over. We now have a basket of green cherry tomatoes which I’m thinking of turning into sauce! :)
I love the quote and you are indeed blessed. Thanks for sharing your garden and kitchen wonders with us this year. Wish you and your loved ones a wonderful year 2011 and many more happy times together.
Sandy, thank you! And thanks for sharing in all the adventures with us this year. :)
Those pictures are really lovely and tell me it is time to get at those seed catalogues … like now.
I have heard about bicoastal, I wonder if I can get bi-hemisphere? In the meantime I am eating a lot of greens from my garden and looking forward to summer.
Thanks for sharing.
Patricia, isn’t it wonderful how we can motivate each other from opposite sides of the world? I know it was Jo’s and Suelle’s and Choclette’s and all our other blogfriends’ gardens that inspired us to keep going in winter this year when we had absolutely nothing in the garden and had never grown anything before! :)
It’s comforting to know that it is Springtime somewhere in this world, although ours is right around the corner. The radishes, carrots, beets, broccoli, lettuce, onions and bok choy are all coming up.We have four artichoke plants that are getting BIG!
I love your three tiny strawberries. = sweet!
Maz
Maz, the three tiny strawbs were savoured carefully, as we really haven’t had many! :)
Do you have a Margot and Jerry living next door? That would make The Good Life complete. What an absolutely splendid cornucopia of produce you have raised! I love the still life with three strawberries especially – how miraculous.
At this time of year as I throw piles of mixed seeds all over the veg bed for the birds (the dogs can’t get it there) I think of the strange harvest of seedlings we sometimes get from doing this. I found wheat growing last autumn under one bird feeder. Small bay trees, where birds have dropped seeds – have you had any strangers in your veg beds?
Hehe..as I mentioned to Maz above, the three strawberries are part of a tiny crop – we seem to get one every couple of days only. It’s been interesting to learn what works in the garden and what doesn’t – the strawberries and capsicums haven’t been a huge success, but eggplant and tomato have taken off! Cabbage has been a mixed blessing – delicious, but because they take so long to grow and we don’t spray anything, they more often than not end up as chook food!
I love the unusual things we’ve had growing from the seeds we feed the chickens. Lots of perpetual sunflowers (I call them that, because they seem to keep opening a new flower every few days), and wheat and corn have self-sown.
Congratulations – you’ve done really well with the garden, Celia!
What an amazing bounty you have there Celia. You wouldn’t be able to wipe the smile off my face if that was my garden :-)
Lovely.
Suelle, thank you for the inspiration! :)
Brydie, it’s just so wonderful…thank you! :)
I’ll say it again, your children are very lucky! Congratulations, must be very rewarding.
Thanks Sue! :)
How wonderful! It must taste so much better than anything you can buy.
Can I ask – how long do you spend maintaining it?
Claire, thank you – Peter and I were talking about maintenance this morning. I think reasonably we spend about half an hour a day during the week, and a few hours on the weekend. We’re not overly fussed about how polished it looks, so there are a few weeds here and there which eventually get pulled out and fed to the chickens. :)
Glorious pictures, Celia! Nature’s generosity never fails to astound me. How lucky you are to be able to grow eggplants! I think it is a little on the cold side for them here, although it doesn’t stop people trying year after year.
Our potates are nearly ready to harvest… I pulled up (bandicooted?!) a small basket of about 2kg yesterday of ones that were close to the surface – didn’t want the light to turn them green. Do your sunflowers pop up from the chook grain or do you plant them? We have a handful at the moment that have self-sown from the leftover grain in their dome. Again, natures generosity!! :)
Chris, I’ve been banned from bandicooting, because I managed to dislodge a whole lot of baby spuds last time I tried. It has been sooo nice to have homegrown potatoes though! We planted one sunflower which grew to a giant head, but all the rest have grown from the chook feed. Sometimes they’re a bit triffid-like in the backyard – all the flower heads seem to be looking at me when I get out of the car! :)
You have had an excellent selection from your garden. Your hard work has paid off! It is fun to eat things you have grown yourself. My Dad grew things from time to time. I think he would have liked to be a farmer. We used to grow great strawberries when we lived on the dairy farm. Perhaps cow manure is the key. I grow a few tiny strawberries in a pot on my balcony in Italy, but anything grows there.
Deb, I’m sure there’s a secret to great strawberries, but we haven’t found it yet. The ones we planted in the ground were all eaten, so we planted a strawberry tower, but the crop has been piddly. Nevertheless, it’s pretty wonderful to have them in the garden at all! :)
Those photos are amazing, congratulations on such a successful crop, we have had endless silverbeet, green button squash and tomatoes this year, mind you it is our first year of having a proper designated vege garden. My kids hate squash but little do they know they eat it in alot of things, great to hide in chocolate muffins etc…hehehe. Thank you for the heads up on your bottle supplier, however I wasnt able to find the little bottles you store your vanilla extract in…..
Take care Tracey.
Tracey, that’s one thing that hasn’t worked – our zucchinis haven’t made any fruit! Not sure why, as the cucumbers are going great guns right next to them! I had another look at the vanilla extract, and the bottles were definitely from Plasdene, from memory I think they were these ones. Hope you find something you like – the pretty bottle makes it all the nicer to give away! :)
How lovely, and what bounty. The Good life was my favourite TV show when I was younger, and I always used to say I wanted to be a farmer when I grew up. I have to settle for my suburban veggies, but you can have the Good Life wherever you are if you have the right mindset. Great job Celia!
Celia my precious :) Your garden is indeed a place of serenity in a sometimes mad capped world – well done. And eat well you do too… I’ve so enjoyed prowling through your stash of recipes – you are my go-to-girl when it comes to garden to plate ideas.
The shortbread came out a treat so thanks for such a great little recipe too.
My two lovely Canberran cheffy friends..thank you both! :) B, you’re so right about mindset, and Anna, so happy you like the shortbread! Thanks for letting me know! :)
It does not take ANY time to maintain a garden like that because that time replaces exercise time, all that bending and stretching. I cannot handle working gym machines, nothing seems to be achieved at the end. Therapy time too as nature is so calming and healing.
Sure is good to have no watering restrictions this year. I am house sitting at the moment and trying to repair a decimated lawn on a very sandy hill using a product called Wetlock. This is stuff you can use if water is really tight in years to come.
PS I think with the zucchinis you can help by hand pollinating with a paint brush. Another trick I read about recently is oil treatment to ripen figs. The trick is to brush a little olive oil inside the opening of the fig flower to hurry then up. I’m going to try that on my figs if (I ever get back to them).
Frances, thank you for the tip re wetlock. And luck you, having figs in the yard! I’d be surprised if we had to hand pollinate the zucchs, as the yard is swarming with bees! I think we’ll just wait a little longer and see what happens.. :)
Celia, another wonderful bounty. You and Pete certainly are “green fingered”. I am really looking forward to replanting a garden when we get home next year.
:-) Mandy
Hi Celia!
What lovely produce and garden! Soon we will be poring over the seed catalogues, deciding what to order for next years garden. Am planning on trying more heirlooms next year.
Your quote is very true, especially if you plant heirlooms, and save the seed. Do you can any of your vegetables, or eat them all fresh?
Did I see right that there are cucumbers in one of the pictures? Are they really spineless? Do you know the name of the variety? They sure look tasty!
Happy gardening!
Manuela
A lot of pleasure to be had in a garden…
Celia,
Was just wondering if there is a bible (book about growing fruit and vege) in NSW that you might be able to recommend.
Not quite sure about what to plant and when and if certain things will grow or not here on the central coast.
Tracey
Mandy, thank you! Can’t wait to see what happens in your garden next year! :)
Manuela, thanks! I’m sorry to disappoint, but the cucumbers aren’t spineless, although they’re pretty tiny and I can scrub them off with a teatowel. Over here they’re known as Lebanese cucumbers, and they’re smallish and don’t need peeling or deseeding before eating. We have mainly just been eating our produce, but we did manage to process about 5 kilos of roma tomatoes – half into tomato ketchup and the rest into passata for the freezer.
Lee, you are so right, but honestly, I had no idea that was the case 12 months ago! It has been an amazing eye-opener!
Tracey, the only reference book we use is Linda Woodrow’s The Permaculture Home Garden that I quoted from in the post. Linda is based in NSW, so her book is great for our local conditions!
Beautiful photos Celia and beautiful produce!
Such a glorious harvest…and so inspiring! Thanks for sharing.
Happy New Year! :-)
Wow… you’re amazing. This isn’t a garden! This is a farm :) Seriously, beautiful produce… congratulations!
I love that corn – so impressed that you managed to grow it in a suburban backyard. We have tried a few times with no success. Must be your magic green thumbs at work!
Anna, Linh Ly, Sasha, thank you! It’s been a fun journey!
SG, isn’t it amazing? Apparently you need to plant a whole bed of it, as the cobs need to be wind pollinated, so they have to be close enough for the pollen off one plant to dust onto another. They’re not perfect cobs, but they are so beautiful! :)
Celia that first photo of your garden is amazing – at first I assumed it was a picture you found somewhere of the perfect veggie garden :) It has come such a long way from when you first laid out the beds earlier this year. All the produce must bring such a happy glow!
My veggie garden is currently stacked up with building materials :( as we await the last bit of work being done to our new pergola. I’m really looking forward to planting up again once it’s all over (the new kitchen is a treat btw – we’re going out to get an oven this week which will almost finish it off).
I said it before, will have to repeat it: when I grow up I want to be like you!
Let’s make it in my next life, because there’s not much hope for a green thumb in this one :-)
Wonderful to see your garden, and all the goodies you are harvesting from it, and it will only improve with time, I’m sure
Happy New Year!
Personally, this demonstrates my top 2011 food trend for mere mortals – people will grow their own food. Well done Celia & Pete, truly well done. LOL
Sarah, I was hoping everyone could see that it really is quite an ordinary sized suburban backyard! It really isn’t a huge space, and yet we’ve been able to grow so much on it! And the added bonus is that now there’s very little lawn to mow! :) Look forward to seeing your new garden and kitchen pics!
Sally, Pete really is the one with the green thumb, I’m more a helper. And we couldn’t have done it without Linda’s book. Happy New Year to you too! :)
Oz, thank you – I think we really will keep trying to grow our own food as much as possible!
Celia what a bounty! I’m constantly impressed at the lovely produce that you get from your garden and having eaten it I can vouch as to how truly delicious and fresh it is :D
Now about my black thumb….
Hi Celia,
The cucumbers are just the right size for pickling, I guess. I’ll see if I can find them over here, now that I know the name. We canned 100 jars of pickles this year. All the pickles were picked while still small, and I prefer ones with tiny spines that are easy to rub off, or spineless. A new variety to try next year! (I’m always trying something new. I love experimenting.)
L, you don’t have a black thumb! You just don’t have a backyard! :)
Manuela, 100 jars of pickles! Wow!! I’m desperate to try making bread and butter cucumber pickles, but we keep eating the cucumbers as soon as they’re harvested. We seem to get just enough to eat – two or three a day – and the boys love them. :)
Yeah but zuchini sometimes have strange probabilities.
Meanwhile my wife has been pollinating our zucchini with a paintbrush with great success, as long as there are male and female plants open at the same time on our three plants. One plant started out with females, another with all males.
Such a beautiful harvest and so welcomed to see as we are freezing our tushies off here! I love popping in to see what you are up to. I also wanted to add my hopes for you and yours to have a wonderful 2011 :)
Celia,
You do a beautiful job of growing, living, and sharing what you do. You are a great example of the Good Life. I am guessing you have run across the term Slow Living – and out growth of the Slow Food movement. You seem to have found a good balance between simple, enjoyable, well done, and meaningful.
Being in the Northern Hemisphere, I also appreciate the sunny summer photos just now : )
Thanks for all you do. And Happy New Year!
Eric
Brooke, thank you! I hope it warms up for you soon! All the best for 2011!
Eric, thanks for stopping by! Happy New Year to you too!