Gardening at Geelong

It's time to spend a few days gardening with my old school friend Jen Scovell at Stonehaven. The area is aptly named, and the stonewalls built from the volcanic rock by convicts in the early 1800s are famous. Jen and Bill bought the 80-acre property in the 1990s and spent years cleaning it up, moving rocks, removing rubbish, burning box thorns and hacking out thistles. They worked like Trojans, grew crops, brought in sheep, and created beautiful gardens and avenues of trees. They built new walls, and Jen has painstakingly crafted dozens of garden beds.. since Bill's death, Jenny has had some great support from Damien, who ageists sheep on the farm and Bill Ethell, who builds and restores boats in the shed. Bill lives in the cottage with bouncy Bess, a bundle of energy and a keen rabbit chaser. For Jen, the challenge is to make the garden accessible to care for, minimize encounters with snakes and reduce rabbit invasions. So when I arrived, it was wheelbarrows and rakes to the ready as we moved barrow-loads of mulches onto the garden. Damien drove the front-end loader, and Bill Ethell, Jen, and I mulched..
I love the garden and am in awe of Jen's work in creating this haven.Read more