The garden was open to the public for Open Gardens Canberra on a weekend in March this year when they had 150 visitors, most on the Sunday as it poured with rain on the Saturday. Felicity, an artist, said they might open again in spring next year as the purple hardenbergia, golden wattles and her cottage garden of perennial plants to the side of the front garden is in full bloom.

The sloping block is a large 2,800 square metres on the side of The Pinnacle and is adjacent to the nature reserve. Huge mature eucalypts dominate Australian native plants introduced by former owners. A creek line runs through the property with a wetland filled with frogs, there are varieties of native bees including the blue-banded bee, many species of butterfly and lots of wildlife. A visiting possum, which has a baby every year, feeds off the gum leaves. Mopokes and other owls and many varieties of birds live in or visit the garden. The aim of the garden is to provide shelter, food and a diverse habitat for native wildlife.

Felicity showed me the raised beds of vegetables in which she grows Romanesco broccoli, rocket, silver beet, New Zealand spinach, coriander, beans, zucchini and strawberries. Tomatoes are raised from seed saved from last season but other seedlings are purchased at Jamison markets.

Geoff Robertson is a botanist who works in ecology but it is Felicity who is the keen plantsperson. Her dad was a farmer and keen food gardener and her mother and grandmother both gardened in Tamworth.

Sitting at a garden table under a large blackwood tree in full flower, Felicity explained that family lived in Dubbo for eight years and they have found that, on the hillside in Hawker, the soil is 'rubbish', just pure rock, and they broke a crowbar when trying to dig holes to plant apple trees. In summer, the site is hot and dry and their 26,000 litre tank only supplies enough water for the fruit trees.

She has had a lot of trouble with curly leaf on an Anzac peach and nectarine tree but the Moorpark apricot is covered in white blossom and protected by a net while the Japanese Mariposa blood plum supplies buckets of fruit.

Accompanied by adorable eight-week old cattle dog puppy, Django, we walked across the block to the large chook run. The family purchased three Rhode Island red bantams from the Queanbeyan Show and they also have two Black Australorp chooks which lay eggs every day.

Spring giveaway winners

Because Felicity has a home-laid supply of eggs and is a vegie grower, we are sharing a recipe from one of the winners of our books (Kitchen Garden 5 September). Ann Haddad of Griffith ACT won The New Australian Garden and Pauline Adams of Barton won The Natural Cook by Matt Stone.

Pauline says Soppa ta' l-Armla or Widow's Soup is traditional in Malta. full of goodness and it goes a long way. She makes it in Canberra for Saturday dinner on cool spring evenings. Her Nanna from Rabat was the queen of soups who had seven children to feed so cooked soup often.

Pauline's mum at home in Malta always included chopped cabbage in the soup and never omitted eggs as the family had an egg each accompanied by a Maltese gbejna and spinach. The gbejniet (Maltese cheeselets) or blobs of ricotta should be added to the pot as a great addition.

Soppa Ta' L-armla (Widow's soup)

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, sliced

4 sticks celery (Maltese celery - karfus)

3 carrots, chopped

half a cabbage, shredded

half a cauliflower, chopped into florets (include leaves)

150g broad beans (or replace with peas)

3 potatoes, chopped

1 courgette, chopped

2 large tomatoes, chopped

2 vegetable stock cubes or chicken stock

2 tbsp tomato paste

water or more stock

4 gbejniet (optional and can replace with firm ricotta)

4 eggs

olive oil for frying

Into a large pot add olive oil and fry the garlic and onion for five minutes or until starting to soften. Add the celery, carrots and fry for a further five minutes. Add the cabbage, cauliflower, broad beans (if using peas, add only for last 15 minutes), potatoes and courgette and fry all vegetables for 10 more minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and chicken stock and stir gently. Add enough water to fill up to three-quarters of the pot and make sure all the vegetables have been covered. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 45 minutes. Add the gbejniet or ricotta and cook for a further 15 minutes. When you are adding the eggs, gently crack and add on top in the last remaining ten minutes.

Susan Parsons is a Canberra writer.