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Life At Wattle Tree Hill

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Life At Wattle Tree Hill

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Tingoora in local indigenous language is Wattle Tree. Please join us on our journey of transformation

10/11/2026

What’s growing at Wattle Tree Hill?

There is nothing quite like the sight of freshly pulled, vibrant golden beetroot glistening in the sun. 💛

Grown with love on our farm at Wattle Tree Hill, these spray-free, nutrient-dense gems are the perfect definition of "hard work equals rewards."

We are so incredibly blessed. 🙏

To get a big, beautiful batch of pickled beetroot underway, I also gathered some extra fresh beets from the Leyroyd Street farm stand in Murgon today.

The kitchen is going to smell amazing tomorrow! 🌟

07/11/2026

What’s growing at Wattle Tree Hill?

Todays harvest:

🫐 We picked our first three blueberries of the season.

🥒 Three zucchini. Two slightly deformed, I’m guessing from too much rain. ☔️

🥒 Our first cucumber.

🍆 One white eggplant.

🪣 And a wheelbarrow of overgrown Warrigal greens, cabbage, Qld arrowroot, cherry tomato vine, comfrey, perpetual spinach, and lots of deformed or holey eggplant went over the fence for the chooks.

What are you harvesting at the moment?

01/11/2026

🍇 The very first blackberry of the season! 🍇

We officially have our first berry on the board! It was looking so good we couldn't resist picking it, though in hindsight, it probably could have used another day or two on the vine—it definitely gave us that classic, sharp, face-puckering tartness!

Even if it was a little early, seeing that deep, glossy color means the floodgates are about to open. The rest of the crop is ripening up beautifully, and we’ll be waiting for them to get perfectly plump, sweet, and pull away effortlessly from the stem before the next harvest.

The berry season is officially underway!

01/11/2026

🍏 A sneak peek of what's to come!🍏

We were busy netting the tree today to protect our upcoming crop, and a few of our Tropic Sweet apples couldn't wait—they literally fell right into our hands!

They are almost fully ready for the main harvest, but these early drops are already showing off that classic pale green skin and beautiful red blush.

Even just a fraction away from peak ripeness, they’ve got that signature super-sweet, low-acid Gala flavour.

Netting is officially secure, which means the rest of the crop is safe from the birds and getting sweeter by the second.

Stay tuned—the official first harvest is just around the corner!

23/10/2026

After a very welcome 89.5mm of glorious rain there were a few pressing jobs to get done this morning. ☔️

1️⃣ The chook pen and nesting boxes had been inundated, so first job off the rank was to empty the wheelbarrow of the lovely nutrient filled ‘cow poop’ hay we had collected the day before, which was now sodden and heavy causing me in my sturdy crocs to get bogged in the thick slippery black mud. 💩

2️⃣ This lead to the removal of soggy nesting hay and the reinstatement of nice dry fresh hay, ready for some welcome bum nuts. 🐓

3️⃣ The duck pen was next. Some fresh hay for around their nests and some extra for the floor of the cage. 🦆

4️⃣ Then the not so pressing jobs of pulling a few weeds, harvesting cherry tomatoes, trimming spent lavender flowers, processing the bulk peaches we bought last weekend and making a coconut jam slice.

5️⃣ Time now to run the working dog, bring the milkers in for milking, sip on a glass of w**e 🍷 and think about dinner.

6️⃣ If the weather is fine you’ll find me at the Wondai markets tomorrow morning supporting the South Burnett Pantry. 🥶 ☔️

08/10/2026

Our Mediterranean Firepit Sanctuary 🏛️🌿🔥

Every corner of our garden tells a story, but this space has truly become our own little slice of paradise.

Right at the heart of it is our firepit area, framed by a beautiful bit of accidental character. On one side, we have our mismatched white and purple lavender. On the opposite side, we have our equally mismatched rosemary—where two towering, robust survivors grow alongside their shorter, softer cousins. They completely broke the "rules" of our original neat windbreak plan, but they look absolutely beautiful together.

Branching out from the firepit, the rest of our Mediterranean garden comes alive:

• The Citrus Espaliers: Framed on either side, we have young citrus trees trained to grow flat against the framework. They are surrounded by their own hard-working guilds, including nitrogen-fixing pigeon pea, deep-rooted comfrey, and resilient lemongrass. 🍋

• The Future Ground Cover: On the northern side, we’ve planted three young caper bushes. Eventually, these will spread out to 1.5 meters wide! Because they are low-growing, they will perfectly blanket the ground without blocking the vital northern sun from reaching the other plants. 🍃

• The Olive Guild: And anchoring the whole Mediterranean vibe is our self-sustaining olive tree guild, keeping the entire ecosystem happy and thriving. 🫒

The best part about the low-profile capers and the neat layout is that absolutely nothing blocks the view.

Now, as I sit out on the front verandah looking over it all, I can see the entire Mediterranean layout blending perfectly into the beautiful views of the surrounding farmland and the mountains in the distance. ⛰️🌾

It’s proof that with a little patience, companion planting, and layout design, you can build a garden that feeds the soil, feeds the family, and feeds the soul.

✨ What’s your absolute favorite view to look at while sitting out in your garden?

07/10/2026

The Secret Life of Our Fruit Tree Guilds: The Olive Tree Circle 🫒🌱✨

If you’ve ever looked closely at our garden, you might notice that our fruit trees never grow alone. We plant them in guilds—which is just a fancy way of saying we give them a community of plant friends!

Just like people, trees thrive when they are surrounded by good friends.

In a guild, the plants work in perfect symbiosis, supplying nutrients, protection, and vital benefits to one another.

Here is the beautiful, hard-working community surrounding our Olive Tree:

• The Protector from the West: Right next to it is a Pigeon Pea. This clever plant fixes nitrogen into the soil to feed the olive, shields it from the harsh afternoon western sun, and provides fantastic "chop and drop" mulch. ☀️

• The Eastern Shield: On the south-eastern side, we have Lemongrass acting as a tough, resilient windbreak, which we also chop back to mulch the soil. 🌾

• The Wind Tunnel Guard: On the southern side sits Canna edulis (Arrowroot). This one has a crucial job—it acts as a vital barrier against the freezing southern winds that whip right through the tunnel between our house and the shed. 🌬️

• The Mineral Miner: Hugging the base of the olive tree is Comfrey. With its incredibly deep roots, it mines precious minerals from deep in the earth to bring them to the surface, while serving as a living ground cover and excellent mulch material. 🌿

Sitting back on the verandah, it looks like a lush, beautiful garden bed. But in reality, it’s a tiny, self-sustaining ecosystem where every single plant has a purpose and a friend.

💚 Have you ever tried companion planting or building a fruit tree guild? What are your favourite plant combinations?

06/10/2026

The Story of My Mismatched Rosemary 🌿🔥

It turns out my lavender wasn't the only plant with its own agenda around our firepit area!

Right on the opposite side, I had a similar grand plan for the rosemary. But just like before, nature had other ideas. After the heavy rains, only two of the original rosemary plants survived.

When I went to patch up the gaps with new plants, I thought I was getting an exact match. But the garden love surprises!

Now that they've settled in, the contrast is hilarious:

• The original two survivors have shot up into taller, more robust, woody shrubs 💪🌿
• The new replacements are a completely different, shorter, softer variety 🌱

So now, sitting on my front verandah, I look out at a completely symmetrical piece of beautiful chaos. On one side of the firepit, I have mismatched tall white and short purple lavender. On the other side, I have towering robust rosemary hanging out with its shorter, softer cousins.

None of it is what I originally planned, and absolutely none of it fits the original "windbreak" brief.

But as I look out from the verandah today, I wouldn't change a single thing. It turns out a garden full of stories is much better than a perfect one anyway.

💚 Do you prefer your garden perfectly neat, or do you love a bit of accidental character like mine?

04/10/2026

The Story of Our Mismatched Lavender 💜🌾🤍

Sometimes plans change, and the garden has a funny way of teaching us to love the unexpected.

It started with a simple plan. I bought seven lavender plants—seven being my lucky number—from a local nursery. The goal was to plant them as a neat, uniform windbreak around our firepit area. But then the rains hit, and four of them unfortunately drowned.

Wanting to fix the gap, I went back to the same nursery to replace the four I lost. I thought I was buying the exact same variety.

Fast forward a few months, and the real surprise revealed itself!

• The original three survivors shot up into a tall, white variety 🤍
• The four replacements grew into a smaller, rounded purple variety 💜

They are completely mismatched and technically completely unsuitable for a windbreak! But despite breaking the "rules" of my original garden plan, they are absolutely beautiful together.

Now, as I sit on my front verandah admiring the garden, I don't see a mistake. I see a wonderful little story.

It's a reminder that life doesn't always grow in neat, predictable rows—and sometimes the chaotic mix-ups turn out even better than what we originally planned.

✨ Have you ever had a gardening "fail" turn into something you love? Tell me your accidental garden stories in the comments!

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Tingoora, QLD
4608

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