There is always something so inspiring when looking at photos from when we first started to tend the garden here at Fairy Wren Cottage. It makes me feel more motivated. When we shifted in there were long to do lists and lists of plants and trees that I was busting to try growing. Into […]

With the wood fire warming the house, the labrador asleep on the hearth and Ebb the Spoodle snuggled up next to me,  I look outside at the tall silver birch trees, their draping shapes further exposed with the leaves already fallen and I watch some little Silver Eyes skip between the branches. The fog is […]

When you go to pick fruit check both sides of the fruit for wasps before picking. Mid February  to mid March is wasp season here at Fairy Wren Cottage. When is it at your place ? Mark it on the calendar as a reminder for next year. It is easy to forget since these things […]

  Thank you for visiting my flowery corner of the web! A big welcome if you have made your way here via the Grass Roots Magazine bread crumb trail. And of course if you have been following me for a while you will know my absence has been due to the bush fires here in […]

The contract to buy Fairy Wren Cottage was signed in Spring but I had to wait until Winter to purchase bare rooted fruit trees. *Check with your local nursery when they expect their  bare fruit tree order to arrive so you can be one of the first to see it and have a good selection […]

  Do you watch BBC Gardener’s World? There was a segment in an episode late 2017 about scientific studies proving that growing plants close to buildings helps insulate a building, there is the micro climate they create plus so many other benefits. I think we may have all realised that to some extent but a […]

Illness, injury, life changing circumstances, ageing. It can be difficult to still do things after something in your life changes can’t it ?! For me at times since my accident it has been heartbreaking and especially in those early days I became very depressed trying to hold on to being able to do everything like […]

There is a lot of talk about foraging isn’t there?!  It can feel like the new black! And foraging is free but it can come with a whole lot of complications. I keep away from anything that: 1. I can’t easily identify. If I have doubts I leave it. 2. Is in a park, pathway, paddock […]

If buying bare rooted heritage fruit trees was a priority the first winter we were establishing the garden at Fairy Wren Cottage then planting roses was the priority for the second year. I saved up for a bulk order just like I did for the fruit trees. It is cheaper to buy roses bare rooted […]