Photography: Marnie Hawson
There’s a certain joy that comes with spaces that foster a sense of togetherness. And it’s hard to imagine a better spot to gather than Quondong Homestead’s vegetable garden in Victoria’s Rutherglen region.
“We have a lot of our bigger family celebrations out there,” says owner Kait, who loves spending time on the property with her husband Marcus and their children Oli, 10, Jack, nine, Lucy, four, and Bella, three. “There’s so much space for people to come together and connect, or… go off and have fun.”
That principle of connection is at the heart of Quondong. The 30-acre property now serves a multitude of families, as the home of The Play Way, a nature-based therapeutic space where families, and particularly children with disabilities, can learn and thrive. “We know the power of getting children out in nature and how much that can support them in regulating their nervous system and… feeling their best,” says Kait, an occupational therapist.
“Working with your hands and being out in nature… supports your body to feel relaxed” – Kait, homeowner
After purchasing the property in March 2020, Kait and Marcus called on landscape designer Kathleen Murphy to help turn the rundown homestead into an adventure playground, with nooks for relaxation and imaginative play, bike- and wheelchair-friendly paths for exploring and, the star of the show: the vegetable garden.
Behind the vegetable garden design
This is the heart of the property, with garden beds and fruit trees, free-ranging chooks, grapevine-shaded arbours and seating spaces. “That’s where the magic happens,” says Kait, who finds children checking on chooks and nibbling on food.
Kathleen designed the space for flexible use, and particularly for kids of all sizes. She also repurposed an existing shed as the centre of growing operations. It has potting benches and soil bins at varied heights. Garden beds range from ground-level rows to raised planters.
“It’s meant to feel natural and organic,” says Kathleen. This design style – structured, but relaxed – marries beautifully with a rustic palette of timber, rust-toned corten steel, shaggy fringes of ivy and patinaed objects, treasure-hunted from around the farm. “Quondong was a working farm for well over 100 years,” says Kathleen, who repurposed paraphernalia such as an old washing trough.
The health benefits of gardening
The garden provides a full sensory experience for children, from plunging their hands into warm soil to cuddling the chickens that cluck in the shade of the old peppercorn tree. Most of all, it connects them with food thanks to a custom pizza oven by Tait Decorative Iron.
The children have a hand in every part of the process, from gathering wood and making dough, to picking produce for toppings. Even fussy eaters are emboldened by the accomplishment. The therapeutic effects aren’t news to gardeners, but for these kids, it’s revelatory – maybe even life changing.
Tour the tranquil vegetable garden
“You can have a very productive space and still have it beautiful,” explains Kathleen. Shaded by river red gums, children experience the healing power of nature through the simple joy of gardening, orchestrated by occupational therapist Kait of The Play Way.
Landscape designer Kathleen Murphy supplemented raised beds with rows of ground-level gardens. The latter beds are packed with leafy greens such as pak choy, kale and cabbages. Espaliered pink lady apples grow along the corten steel fence.
Kait’s kids love all the produce. The strawberries are their pick of the bunch, grown in raised planters for easier access.
Diverse materials and bed heights create a garden that’s structured but organic, united by a palette of timber and corten steel.
The use of corten steel is echoed in the fence and a gate custom made by Tait Decorative Iron.
Ground bed structures include netting and a tomato frame made from found branches.
“We wanted to create spaces where the kids felt safe and they had the freedom to explore” – Kait, homeowner
Explore the alfresco areas
An alfresco living area provides a necessary place to relax amid the hustle and bustle of the working vegetable garden. “Many of the kids struggle with social engagement and endurance,” explains Kait. Here, they find reprieve on the Coco Republic ‘Navagio’ sofas, sourced by Rees & Rees in Wangaratta. This peaceful area is situated underneath the arbour, shrouded in gorgeous grapevines .
“If it’s really busy in the garden shed and the kids need a little bit more space, this is a lovely chillout zone” – Kait, homeowner
Rees & Rees in Wangaratta sourced much of the furniture, including the Coco Republic ‘Navagio’ sofas.
Teaching cooking skills with a pizza oven
The woodfired pizza oven, designed and made by Tait Decorative Iron, is the centre of activities at Quondong.
Children forage in the garden for toppings – even raiding the chicken coop for the odd egg – then settle down to eat under the arbour (also made by Neil Tait). This is festooned with grapevines for shade in summer and dappled light in winter.
“So many of the kids are really fussy eaters, but exposing them to food and where it comes from and getting them involved in the process, they become so proud of what they’ve achieved and so much more willing to try things that they otherwise wouldn’t try,” says Kait. “If they get their senses ignited, it’s exploring; they’re not focused on ‘I don’t eat that’ and they’ll try things they would never normally try.”
Source book
Landscape design: Kathleen Murphy Landscape Design, kmldesign.com.
Therapy program: The Play Projects, theplayprojects.com.
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