The couple emigrated to Australia from England in 1966 where Pam was brought up climbing mountains and walking the moors with her parents, brother and sister. They picked bilberries on the moors, hazelnuts off the hedgerows and wild strawberries in the woods. The family had fruit trees at home and rockmelons were grown in a small greenhouse.

In Dunlop, their block is on a hillside and the house has magnificent views to the Brindabellas. On their top terrace, Fred has built seven raised vegetable beds that overflow with edibles including Iron Man spinach, leeks, beetroot, eschallots, garlic, carrots, cucumbers and rocket. There are cherry tomatoes and standard tomatoes on stakes, bush beans and chillies. Butternut pumpkins are developing and a Jap pumpkin which appeared in the compost is doing well.

A recent surprise has been among the generously producing tromboncino, the climbing summer squash that originated in Italy. There are no seeds in the long neck, just the bulbous end. The Fawkes usually harvest the fruit when it is the size of zucchini but one hid among the foliage and grew to the length of Pam's shoulder to her calf. Her son's family cooked it as they have a family of six.

With a spud shortage on potato farms throughout Australia, the Fawkes are pleased to be harvesting Sapphire potatoes which are grown on a flat area at the top of the garden. Pam bought the certified Sapphire seed potatoes from Parkwood nursery and this year found them at Bunnings. They have rather rough, purple skins and are purple and white inside and stay like that when cooked. Pam says they are very creamy, and purple vegies are the go for their anthocyanins.

Purple potatoes have ancient Peruvian origins and one variety, Vitelotte, was listed in France in the early 19th century. The Botanical Bookshop at the Australian National Botanic Gardens has in stock the book Vilmorin: The Vegetable Garden (2016, Taschen) with magnificent full page colour plates which include Vitelotte and other dark skinned potatoes. It would turn your kitchen into an art studio.

In the Fawke kitchen, Pam hangs homegrown eschallots and garlic which she has woven into plaits, from door handles and on the notice board. The kitchen window overlooks a small courtyard area where the house walls are lined with espaliered lemon trees.

Because of their lifelong enjoyment of berries, the Fawkes have planted the thornless blackberry Chester, a High Bush blueberry, rhubarb and strawberries. Fruit trees include a fig, peach, pear, all netted, a young pomegranate and a loquat which had a full crop that was eaten by birds by day, bats by night and the gardeners.

There are two plum trees, a Mariposa and a Satsuma, planted in one hole to keep them small. Pam freezes some plums for hot winter desserts, shares part of the crop with friends and neighbours, makes spicy plum sauce and plum and onion chutney which smells as good as it tastes. Her favourite recipe is adapted from one posted on the internet by Nicola in September 2011.

Both Fred and Pam have been members of the Ginninderra Catchment Group since the late 1990s and Pam is the Convenor of the Jarramlee Park Environment Group. Volunteers have planted on six sites and the group is involved in Waterwatch and Frogwatch. The two ponds are officially named Jarramlee Pond and Fassifern Pond, the latter for the homestead and stables in the area around which there are old apple trees but the site is abandoned. Children went yabbying in the ponds more than a decade ago and people now fish in one of the ponds for redfin, feral fish which someone released there.

PLUM AND ONION CHUTNEY

7 medium onions (chopped)

1kg Satsuma and/or Mariposa plums (or Victoria plums), lightly stewed and stoned

2 cloves garlic

good pinch of chilli powder or medium fresh chilli

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp pickled ginger (or grated ginger)

salt

black pepper

500g soft brown sugar

350ml red wine vinegar

splash of olive oil

Soften the onions in the oil. Add all remaining ingredients and simmer gently until the mixture turns a rich brown/red colour and reduces and thickens. It will thicken a little when it cools, but best to keep simmering until it has a chutney-like consistency. It can take a few hours depending on the amount of juice from the plums. Pour into sterilised jars and ideally let it mature for a month or so before eating.

Susan Parsons is a Canberra writer.