We’re having a very mild Autumn here in Sydney, and our messy garden is thriving on the mix of rain and sunshine.
We’re growing a paisley shaped lemon (just one, photo below), as well as our first ever Tahitian limes (above)…
Some of you might recall our garden updates from a couple of years ago with photo after photo of just one solitary lemon on our tree. There are now more than sixty on there (I lost count after that)…
Our bed of greens has nearly run its course, but we’ve eaten heaps of rainbow chard and bok choy from it, as well as perennial leeks and red amaranth…
As the other plants start to die back, the continental parsley has returned with gusto…
Our mutant jap pumpkin/trombie squash has gone completely mental. It’s now rambling over three beds and trying to colonise the pathways…
We have four giant pumpkins maturing in the top bed…
…and a regular supply of zucchini-like babies…
The large yellow flowers brighten up the garden…
We’ve managed to keep the squash away from the camellias this year (last year the trombies scrambled all over them). This one is just starting to flower…
All five chooks seem to be doing quite well. They’re laying a couple of eggs a day between them, which is plenty for us…
Taking photos of our hens involves pointing the camera at them, snapping two hundred shots, and hoping for the best.
Amber continues to rule the roost. She’s very bossy…
We’re not supposed to play favourites, but Mrs Gronkle is so endearing and inquisitive that she’s impossible not to love…
She pops up for a chat whenever she sees us…
(Not Quite) Lorraine stands out with her distinctive plumage…
She has the fluffiest white pants of the flock…
Baby Esme is all grown up, but still has her trademark perky tail…
And little Billie doesn’t seem to be laying at the moment (we can usually tell by their combs) – she’s clearly the youngest and sits at the bottom of the pecking order…
The yellow cherry tomatoes continue to flourish, despite the cooler weather. They’re absolutely delicious, and I love the fact that Linda found the seeds in a national park…
Surprisingly, we still have basil growing…
Being rich is…having excess basil to feed to the chickens…
Our self-sown marigolds continue to flower…
Thanks to Sir David (Attenborough), we knew that this little visitor was a damselfly rather than a dragonfly – the former fold their wings in, but the latter don’t…
Our pond is so full of aquatic plants that we can no longer see the water. We have a couple of resident Brown-Striped frogs, whom we hear most nights…
Our kitchen bench is filled with green leaves, oregano prunings and fallen lemons…
How are things going in your garden this month?
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Lovely! I would love some chickens, but need more space!
I am from the UK so things are just starting to grow now…I have onions, lettuce, radish, peas and a couple of carrots growing (big slug problem so lots were eaten!). Various berries are growing and we have rhubarb by the tonnes, so I must do something with them soon…any suggestions?
xx
Lucky you, rhubarb used to grow in our garden, but now refuses to do so! We once bought a big box of rhubarb offcuts at the markets and stewed them all down into a compote and froze them in small takeaway containers. They lasted for ages, and we used them for all sorts of desserts! :)
That’s a good idea! There is honestly tonnes of the stuff…goes nicely with strawberry :-)
Your Garden and Chicks are Doing So Well – thanks so much for sharing – want to eat my veggies and have an egg sandwich:) Happy Hump Day!
The chookies are still young, so they’re still travelling quite well. Hope you had a great weekend, Renee! :)
Ah. great to see that gorgeous marigold again. Can’t wait for next season.
Francesca, they’re still madly flowering and reseeding here, I’d be tempted to chuck a few seeds in the garden and see how you go! :)
Love the combs on your chookies, very distinctive and sculptural! Our lemon tree has plenty of lemons but we notice they are smaller than last year, and the lime is all but finished, as it is an early one, plus we are north of you. The very hot summer has taken a toll on both crops. We have plenty for ourselves but usually we give bags away. Love the tour of your garden. I’m going to try butternut pumpkin next spring and see how we go…
Ardys, we’ve never managed to grow a butternut pumpkin that we actually *planted*. :) Yet this year, we have a backyard full of pumpkin/squash crosses that have appeared from nowhere and made monsters! Sorry to hear about your hot weather, hope it’s getting milder for you now..
I would do anything to take over your kitchen and cook from your garden- how inspiring! It always amazes me the amount that you are able to grow, whether you are tending to it or not. I’m so jealous of your lemon tree! The things that I would do… very exciting update Celia :)
Em, truly the secret is the chickens! They do most of the work! If you were closer, you’d be welcome to raid our garden anytime! :)
I would love chickens too. Love your garden tour. It’s hard to see how big it is. Is it sprawling or compact (and well laid out)? Here in Auckland, the mix of wet and sun means our weeds are getting out of control. Wish they were edibles instead!
It’s not huge. We had a standard backyard lawn, which we dug up and replaced with garden beds!
Well it looks great! Great inspiration.
It’s all so wonderful, Celia, although I do feel sorry for Billie, being at the bottom of the pecking order – that’s a bit like my Rosie. How lovely that Mrs Gronkle is so social and that she just loves a visit – I think if I had chickens I’d waste a lot of time playing with them. I love the multiplication of the lemon – it’s like the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. My basil is growing well too as is my parsley – long may it last! xx
Charlie, haven’t we had a mild autumn! Amazing that we all still have basil growing! Long may it last indeed! :)
Why am I not surprised that not quite Lorraine has the whitest, fluffiest pants? Of all the things we left behind when we moved, I miss my chooks and garden beds most.
Maureen, I hope you get to have them back one day.. xxx
Love this, Celia! Next time we pop in, we’d love to meet the girls xox
Plan to come when it’s not bucketing down, darling :)
You are certainly rich indeed Celia, isn’t it great that money isn’t the only currency! My garden is a bit neglected at the moment- littlej is keeping it alive but not very loved :( This weekend I’ll be frost-proofing the delicates, like my coffee tree and harvesting the potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes xox
I hope you’re feeling better, love. Good on littleJ for keeping it going! xxx
So envious! I’m still trying to get rid of my black thumb. We are trying to stick to herbs at the moment. My tomatoes this year did horribly in perth’s dry dry weather. My rosemary is doing ok as is my thyme but my dill and Thai basil are horrible. I have also been able to harvest a bit of sage and oregano. But can you believe I can’t get my mint to grow?! And the lavender is well, nonexistent. I can’t wait til we have a place where we can have a couple chooks!
And your citrus!! Very jealous! I dream of having citrus and an avocado!
Lauren, our avo trees don’t seem to be doing much and haven’t for years, not sure how long it takes before we can expect avocados! It’s funny about mint – it’s supposed to grow like crazy, and sometimes it does, but it’s really the parsley that goes nuts in our garden!
Gardening in Perth is hard in summer. The trombies are the only thing surviving at the moment. The lemons are all green, I struggle to find a yellow one. The lime tree is just recovering from transplant shock (we took it out of a pot and put it in the ground) so no limes this year. The basil is hanging in there but only just. The chickens haven’t laid an egg in weeks so are on the way out. On the upside, we have just planted our winter crops, lots of brassicas. So here is for something to eat soon :)
Ooh, sound like you and Lauren have both had a hart time with the heat! I desperately look forward to winter broccoli too!
Have not entered my garden to get any work done yet, hoping by weekend I will feel up to par and get my peas seedlings into the ground.
Do you keep your lemon and lime trees outdoor year round or you need to bring them indoor for the winter months?
Norma, I’m sorry you’ve been out of sorts! I hope you had a good weekend in the garden! Our lime and lemon trees are planted in the ground! :)
I’ve not had one tomato this season but my basil is thriving! Cauliflower and kale have been planted and should be ready for harvesting when we get back. Love your abundant garden :)
Tandy, aren’t plants so unpredictable! We haven’t had a single proper trombie this year, but lots of mutant squashes instead. Hope you’re having an absolutely fabulous time!
Since ‘Not Quite Lorraine’ now just happens to be my computer backdrop, am I being illegal? You have no watermarks!!! Don’t want to end up in the pokey!!!!! But if is a gorgeous photo :) ! And what is it with Continental parsley this year – it was wet here and I did not go around the corner to all my herb pots for over a week! Now it seems I have enough to supply the markets: what a delight!!!!!
Eha, I think if you look carefully, all the photos are tagged with Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. :) Which NQL pic did you use, the one with the fluffy pants? :)
hehe good to hear that NQL is still there! You worried me one time when you told me that chickens die. She’s certainly fluffy bottomed! :o LOL Maureen what do you mean? :P
Sweetie, they DO just die sometimes, I was trying to make sure you knew.. :D
Lovely tour, Celia
Thanks Glenda! :)
Hi Celia, Love your posts! Would also love some seeds from the yellow cherry toms if you could manage it (I’m in SA). Let me know!
We haven’t actually collected any this season (all these plants are self-sown), but I’ll let you know if we do. :)
Your garden looks wonderful, so abundant. Things are just popping out here. We’ve had the cherry and apple blossom which the trees are shedding like gentle snow. I’m looking forward to the herbs taking off, although my sage is huge already and the tarragon is steady and growing. Thanks for the tour of your garden and the visit with your chooks. GG
GG, I just can’t seem to make sage work on a regular basis – I think maybe our garden is too wet for it. And I’ve never tried growing tarragon before! :)
Everything seems to be thriving in your beautiful garden.The Lime trees look great! And the chooks are eating their fill…looking very healthy! Love your blog, thanks for the tour of the garden! :)
Thanks for stopping by! The citrus have some problems with leaf miner, but generally they’re all doing well!
Everything looks great! We gave all our chickens to a neighour in Spain last summer as we are travelling so much between the two countries now. He keeps us supplied in eggs when we’re there but I do miss our chickies!
Chica, how nice that someone’s taking care of your chooks for you though!
I’m always amazed how much you glean from your garden for the kitchen. It must be so satisfying to just walk out the back door and pick what you need for the table.
Nancy, it IS lovely, although we tend to eat what we find rather than choose what we eat, if that makes sense.. :D
Fabulous fabulous garden. I did sigh with envy at your lemons, but then remembered that there’s things we can grow in England that you can’t grow in Sydney, so it all evens out in the end. Our garden is still very brown, with just the first few seedlings poking through apart from the broad beans that have beautiful mauve flowers at the moment.
Apples, for one. Oh how I wish we could grow apples, but we tried and they just didn’t work. You’ve got some incredibly beautiful flowers there at the moment, Anne! :)
i always love your chook photos celia..and your garden is looking really lush still..i’m still picking eggplants but apart from that not much else..x
Jane, thank you – how funny that you’re still picking eggplant! So many people find it incredibly difficult to grow, but we always seem to have it in the garden too!
Look at all those lemons, what heaven! And basil for the chickens! Your garden seems to get bigger and bigger but that must be because it is being used in such a productive way. I love seeing your garden posts !
Thanks dearheart, it always makes me happy to think of you and B paying a virtual visit! :)
What truly gorgeous photos! I’m soo jealous of your chickens – I loved them when we had our farm in Quebec. And talk about A GARDEN – wow – you really have a green thumb. Spring has begun here in Massachusetts, USA and I’m very happy about that!!! (Our veggie-eating woodchuck is out of hibernation… the little pest!!)
How many veggies can a woodchuck eat.. ;-) I’m glad it’s springtime Cecile, you’ve all had a cold winter!
You made me laugh!! We did – we had a pretty nasty winter. Interestingly enough, one of my sons lives in Philadelphia – a couple hundred miles south – and they got more snow than we did !!
Your garden continues to amaze me Celia & that basil looks like it’s flourishing. Those chooks are so darn cute & I especially love Lorraine’s butt! I keep saying how I’d love to get some chickens here & let them graze on our hillside to try to eat the ticks (we have so many that we haven’t been able to go out to do any work there) but alas, too many predators here who would love a nice chicken dinner.
I’m so sorry to hear about the ticks, what a pain for you! Chickens probably would eat them up for you, but as you say, they’d probably end up as fox food. :)
Your garden must bring you so much joy and pride, it looks so wonderful. You mustn’t have to buy too many vegetables with your garden producing so much and fresh eggs, what a privilege. I think these are the things that bring real joy to lives, thanks for sharing Celia. My indoor garden is currently 3 Phalaenopsis orchids :)
Stefanie, we don’t have to buy too many veg, or any eggs for that matter, but we still have to buy fruit. And orchids are just the most wonderful plants – my cousin grows oodles of them, but I’ve never been able to! :)
Celia, Im really lucky with the orchids that I buy. I’ve been able to keep them alive for several months but once the flowers die I have no luck in cutting and getting them to flower again so they end up being thrown out. It’s wasteful really and expensive to keep buying new ones but I’m not exactly green thumbed, I’m surprised they survive as long as they do.
love your edible green jungle Celia….probably almost as much as your chooks do :-)
Thanks Brydie.. xxx
I have seen your old post on cucumber plants in pots and your plants grew wonderful I am have some trouble was wondering how much is to much? I live in Florida its not to hot yet in the 80’s and I have them in part shade because of the last time they was burned in full sun.
Hi Pamela, we didn’t have any luck with them this year – I think we tried to give them TOO much water, but last year they were fantastic! Most people find squash and cucurbits really easy to grow, but we always get unpredictable results! Good luck with yours, sorry I can’t offer more useful advice though.
I put my hands up when it comes to my garden. I thought it was supposed to stop growing about now and die back so that I could find my way through the acre of pumpkins and get stuck into digging up the potatoes (that the pumpkin vines all but covered completely over). NO chance! The pumpkins are still going, advancing like Attila and his Huns en mass all over the enclosure and still producing fruit. Lucky really because the native bush rats have found them and are gutting the fruits to get to the seeds inside…sigh…
Squash are amazing plants aren’t they? And so unpredictable, some years we can’t grow them at all, but when they DO grow…goodness, do they grow!
We had a bad year for the green zukes this year. They all got blossom end rot and turned to green slime on the vine but the yellow zukes did well. Can’t quite fathom that one but obviously they are hardier. I love the look of your monster squash. Most impressed with it’s vigour. Almost makes ours look tame ;)
The big one we found in the garden weighed in at 5kg!! :D
Holy moly! Sounds like that mutant squash has found a niche at chez Fig Jam ;)
It’s always a pleasure to take a virtual stroll around your garden, Celia, no matter the season. Your climate really does enable you to get full use from your garden, too. By this time in our fall, most plants would have given out already. I’m about 2 weeks from planting anything around here — and then I leave for a spell. I hope that timer works for watering or there won’t be much to come home to. :)
John, we’re so blessed with our climate that it’s hard to complain about the things we can’t grow (being all the plants that need frost and chill days, like apples). Ooh, another trip planned? :)
You’re so lucky with your chooks, not a single one of my 6 ladies are laying at the moment. I’m putting it town to the colder weather, a few are molting and we’ve just integrated all 6 together. With luck they might start up again soon.
My garden is getting ready for winter with cauliflower, peas, radishes, spinach, carrots and parsnips all being planted in pots ready to transplant. But, like you, I still have heaps of basil and marigolds! I love your lemon tree, mines cactus :(
Our girls have really slowed down in the last few days with the cold weather! We’ve only been getting an egg or so a day. This winter we’re only growing plants that will self-seed or grow from broadcast seed. We’re never organised enough to raise seedlings these days! :)