The Garden

Cosmos in the cottage garden

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread.”

This quote by the great American conservationist John Muir pretty well sums up our approach to gardening and business at Thistlebrook. We’re passionate about growing our own food, but are trying to do so in balance with ornamental gardens, and in ways that are aesthetically pleasing.

A Snapshot of Thistlebrook:

One and a half acres of former dairy farm blessed with rich red volcanic topsoil (krasnozem, apparently) at least one metre deep. Slightly acid, wild blackberries nearby, a blueberry farm up the road.

Generous average rainfall of approximately 1000mm per year. For the three years we’ve been here the annual tallies have ranged from half the average to 900mm in 2008.

Elevation of approximately 700m. Temperate climate. Winter minimums are around five degrees lower than Toowoomba, and that means regular frost in winter, sometimes severe enough to “burn” 10m tall trees. A neighbour across the road measured -13C in a paddock during the big freeze of July 2007. Around 40 frosts per year can be expected.

Intensive food growing systems. The nine bed potager (or just plain old “vegie patch” as we tend to call it) includes grapes and blueberries, herb bed, berry patch, and pumpkin patch. Mostly heirloom varieties. Espalier heritage apple orchard, heritage stonefruit orchard, citrus trees, rare breed chickens. To come – cider apple orchard, ducks, bees and (if Kylie has her way), a milking goat or two!

Ornamental gardens are young but include deciduous trees, woodland, unusual perennials, ornamental grasses, cottage garden, and Australian natives. Much, much more in years to come.

The property is being developed and managed according to sustainable principles. Organics, rainwater harvesting, wastewater treatment and reuse, waterwise, recycling.