On a bright winters day E and I, were viewing what was to become our third home in Köyceğiz when the letting agent, as an afterthought, invited us to walk to the end of the extensive orange grove the villa is set in. A few minutes walk up a gently winding, tree-lined track brought us to a shuttered village house, littered around with fallen leaves and surrounded by fruit-heavy citrus trees.

Though we knew that it wasn’t currently lived in we could see the cottage was cared for, dry, warm and maintained. This was our first introduction to Karatavuk Köy Evi or Blackbird Cottage. Despite all the gorgeous Mediterranean birds living in the grounds it’s the fluting song of the Blackbird that stands out here all year round, and as I write this a year later I can hear one singing from the Mulberry tree opposite.

The cottage was the childhood home of our landlord -Necati, built by his grandparents 70 years ago. Necati grew up, built a house, raised a family with his wife, Gül, and they had successful careers far from here but the cottage and grounds have remained little changed. In those days Köyceğiz was all farms, forest and lake with a few shops, administrative buildings, houses and little in the way of paved roads. The area, then as now, was famous for its citrus fruits and pomegranates and the cottage is still surrounded by Necati’s’s and his neighbours mandarin and orange trees. Even now with its towering border of mature Mulberry and fig trees the garden has an island feel, preserving the sense of isolation the whole town must have once had.

In Necati’s grandparents day the land was used as a small holding, on which they also grew corn, cotton and sesame and kept livestock. This included a couple of ox and horses for the heavy work such as ploughing. The whole area was like this and there are still a couple of working farms at the end of the road with a mixture of animals and crops. A couple of boisterous milking cows are daily chivvied along the street from their fields and occasionally I hear the sheep and goat bells of a flock being moved onto fresh pasture very early in the morning.

Since we moved into the main house, Necati, and Gül, have patiently taught me some of the ways to maintain and work the orange grove or bahçe. The land is still irrigated using earth channels skilfully created by our neighbour on his battered Massey Ferguson tractor, then periodically flooded with water from the courses built long ago to bring the mountain river to town. This water is allotted to each landowner throughout summer and the demand is so high that it can arrive in the pitch black early hours of the morning when it has to be carefully diverted and redirected to each citrus tree by lamplight. Not knowing this,one night I crept, poker in hand, armoured only in boxer shorts, out of our door at 3am, preparing to do battle with what I presumed were bike thieves breaking the locks. It was our headlamp-wearing neighbour chopping through a stony earth bank with a shovel, allowing the water to flow to his trees. He courteously ignored my Gollum like movements in the shadows.

Kindling wood is collected and piled along the meandering wooded path for drying, creating a home for bugs and lizards, whilst larger logs stacked ready for the winter soba (woodburner) are chopped from felled diseased trees or the removal of dangerous boughs. Pine cones are also collected for kindling, the oil in them providing an excellent burn. Some of the branches and logs are trimmed and used for fencing, shed repairs, flower arbours, plant stakes and in our case, door wedges and a nifty, some might say rustic, coffee table I inexpertly put together in a cloud of bad language and spilt blood.

The garden was planted all those years ago to provide year round fruit, vegetables and herbs. There are orange, mandarin, lemon, fig, mulberry, olive trees and a huge loquat tree I found myself having to climb higher and higher every day in a race against the birds scoffing the fragile fruit. You come to question the true value of a pocketful of squashed fruit when 20 foot up a swaying tree with ants crawling down your neck. Purslane, a Turkish favourite edible plant, flourishes widely in the grove and is picked before flowering to be used as a delicious meze mixed with yoghurt or in a spicy distinctive casserole.

The years cycle started for us with the generally mild chill of the Turkish winter, softened by bright sunny days, and cosy evenings with the crackling of the fire. The trees are full of ripe mandarins and oranges in the winter months and nighttime’s are punctuated occasionally by the thud of them dropping. First job of the morning is to go around collecting the fallen fruit for juicing. The cottage was built to local tradition making the most of the path of the sun and the terrace receives its warmth throughout the morning from the winter sun. A pleasant place to meet up with Necati and practice our Turkish/English.

Winter eased gently into an early spring, which as well as the floral riot of colour means the whole region is scented with the delicate aroma of orange and mandarin blossom. Blackbird Cottage is particularly enchanting at this time of year as the citrus trees lie only a few metres away on all sides. A few metres from the cottage is a huge Loquat tree (yeni dunya ) which holds the sweet, easily bruised fruit for a few weeks. Each morning the warbling of a shy Golden Oriole pair could be heard from here as they fed on the ripe loquats and an ancient battered, world weary Tortoise chomped his way through the fallen fruit.

Towards late spring the mulberries ripen and the trees are alive with gluttonous birds. Mulberries are fragile and easily damaged which is why you don’t see fresh ones for sale very often. This means a short period of filling up on the fresh fruit, whilst others dry them for later in the year or make syrups and cordials from them. We munched them straight from the tree,rarely making it back to the house with more than a handful for later. Being uninitiated in the ways of the wild, at the beginning of spring I was picking and scoffing them without thought. Only after the occasional mouthful gave an unexpected gamey flavour did I realise you have to keep an eye out for the odd unsuspecting bug merrily nestled in its own private mulberry.

After the pleasant heat of May and June when the figs were in season and more tree climbing endured, the temperatures rose significantly. The first cicadas began their constant zither, building to a background crescendo throughout the next few months. Summer lay hot and heavy through July until September and life was mostly active in the very early morning, when the tortoises lumbered with evil intent towards the veggie patch and the birds sang from deep in cool cover. One exception is the large erratic flocks of Bee-eaters chirruping overhead throughout the day, pausing occasionally in the highest branches of the Pine or along the power lines. Köyceğiz is renowned for its honey production and these gaudily plumaged birds make the most of the proliferation of their favourite food item.

Summer is wedding season in Türkiye and the evocative sound of daval zurna, the Middle Eastern drum and pipe combination, can be heard from gardens and venues hosting celebrants across town. Neighbours make the most of the cooler night air and quietly chat on balconies and the old style airy platforms used for summer relaxation.

Autumn in the forested Muğla region is reminiscent of Europe though arriving later. The leaves turn colour and fall, woodsmoke tangs the damp air and the birds move on or through, often in large numbers. The local mosque-nesting Storks left in September with large flocks from further north drifting over the grove too. Fungi started to appear at the base of the tree trunks and the tasty but terrifying green veined Çintar mushrooms appear on market stalls. We collected the last of the glut of sweet peppers and cherry tomatoes as the light shortened and nights cooled. By November the mandarins, lemons and oranges are mostly ripe and locals turn up to the slightest occasion gifting carrier bags full of fruit for those without trees.

The lack of chemical use and sedate peace of the garden has encouraged an impressive range of wildlife. Tortoises are regular visitors, so far I’ve found several species of lizard, Tree frogs chirp loudly, a bewildering array of butterflies and insects flit amongst the flowers and trees and Wild Boars are a shy and elusive visitor in the darkest hours of the night. I recorded the Boars on a remote camera trap, magnificent creatures but unlike in some of the resort towns, ours flee long before you’re aware of them. Only a muted squeaking and grunting heard through open windows if you should wake in the earliest hours of the morning occasionally gives away their presence. The gorgeous Beech Marten and Southern White-breasted hedgehog also pass through the garden.

Over the year I’ve recorded a surprising number of birds from the grounds including some that have nested. Masked and Red backed Shrikes, Golden Orioles, several Warbler species, at least two Woodpecker species, and Spotted Flycatchers have all bred here. Nightingales nested in an adjoining grove and their unforgettable song could be heard daily from dusk through to late morning in Spring and Summer.

The list of those seen flying above, in or around the grounds include Short-Toed Eagles, Goshawks, Black Kite, Little and Alpine Swift, Stone Curlew, White and Black Storks, Collared and Semi-Collared Flycatchers, Hoopoe, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Roller, Bee-eaters, Turtle Dove, 5 Woodpecker species and two other Shrikes. In the night the calls of Tawny, Scops and Little Owl can often be heard close by as they hunt the open avenues of the grove.

The garden is a botanists dream, the avoidance of chemicals and yearly cycle of ploughing and watering has created a combination of woodland, meadow and field habitat. I haven’t the knowledge to identify the plants growing here but have noticed the continuous overlap of plants and flowers as the seasons pass, each growing in their niche of the grove. Spring was spectacular with wild flowers blooming across the open areas of the grove, whilst during summer the shady woodland borders were a sanctuary for many plants hiding along the darker and damp irrigation channels. Even in winter tiny delicate flowers bloom and butterflies are present in all months.

This year Necati and Gül restored part of Blackbird Cottage, gently modernising it without taking away from its charm. The cottage was built with a dividing wall, and the unrefurbished half, now used for storage, gives an idea of the simplicity but sturdiness of the local village houses. The thick stone walls insulate against the fierce heat of summer and chill of winter, built in the tradition found all around the Aegean and Mediterranean. Wooden slatted ceilings, clay pot roof tiles, cool white rendered walls, lots of airy windows with wooden shutters for evening and low doorways mark out these fast disappearing homes.

The relentless pace of construction in Türkiye has made Blackbird Cottage an important piece of local history, even with its careful modifications . The building and bahce (garden for growing food) an echo of a time of sustainable living when most necessities were available from the surrounding land. Hopefully the cottage can be preserved as a living space for many more years as a reminder of a locally disappearing rural existence.

For further information on Köyceğiz and Muğla have a look through the rest of my blog posts or contact me for advice.

My Instagram profile also gives an idea of the beauty of this area.