Country Style celebrates the diversity of modern Australian living, from the country to the coast and is a trusted source of information for Australians who are driven by the dream of a beautiful regional lifestyle.
I must admit that I don’t have a garden. I have a collection of pot plants, but nothing rooted in the earth. Near where I live is a community garden, where rows of vegetables are planted and volunteers tend the beds. There is a large chicken coop with a tree at its centre. Whenever I feel stressed I walk to it and peer in through the fence to see what’s growing and have a chat to the chickens (I can’t imagine what passersby must think… I’m surprised I haven’t been sectioned). I feel as if I’ve been transported to the country and I feel instantly relaxed. That’s the power of a garden. It makes you feel connected to nature and can be incredibly grounding. When you’re working in the garden,…
ON THE MOVE Deliver tea in the garden or drinks on the verandah with minimal fuss using Pillow Talk’s ‘Orian’ range of natural round trays, from $69.95. Made from handwoven water hyacinth and featuring smooth ceramic handles, they also make a nice display piece. Visit pillowtalk.com.au COOKING WITH COAL Born from a love of cooking over a flame, Pig & Pilgrim portable parrilla barbecues make 0utdoor cooking easy. The Campfire, $950, can fit in a medium-sized car to go where you go. Visit pigandpilgrim.com.au IN THE DOG HOUSE Give your loyal sidekick somewhere stylish to shelter from the sun or rain with this All Day Dog Villa kennel, $195 for large, from Petbarn. Visit petbarn.com.au. HANDY GUIDE Feeling inspired by all of the glorious gardens within these pages? Start planning…
Hello, lovely gardening friends! One of the most wonderful things about being a gardener is the year-on-year learning, don’t you think? Whether you’re gardening in the same place over and over or moving from garden to garden, each passing season gives you a better idea of what to expect the next – all the fun things, as well as the pitfalls. If you’re gardening in the same place year on year, you’ll know that one of the disarming things about being an Australian gardener, in particular, depending on where in this vast country you are, is that the seasons aren’t necessarily distinct and reliable. I, though, reliably make the same mistakes every spring. Plant too many zucchini. Plant them too close together. Similarly, the same mistakes happen every summer. I…
Filtered through an ancient oak tree, dappled light flickers over this country Victorian garden, joining bobbing flowerheads and wiggling bees in a bucolic dance, choreographed by nature – and by landscape designer Tim Pilgrim. The story of this garden began when city girl Virginia was seduced by the country, encouraged by friends who had settled in Macedon in central Victoria, on the traditional lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples. In the wake of COVID lockdowns, Melbourne had lost its charm, and Virginia says, “Every time I’d come to visit their house, it would feel like this beautiful escape from the city”. Oak Cottage, with charm in spades and more than enough room for green-thumbed tinkering, stole her heart. The adorable cottage deserved a gorgeous…
Trentham chef, restaurateur and farmer Annie Smithers is a busy woman. At her French-style farmhouse restaurant, Du Fermier, she serves up a changing menu of seasonal dishes to her appreciative diners, showcasing produce plucked fresh from her home kitchen garden. In addition, Annie writes a regular newspaper column, holds classes, tours, weddings and events from the Lyonville home that she shares with her wife Susan Thompson, and champions her paddock-to-plate philosophy through various creative endeavours. Needless to say, when faced with the option of entertaining at home on one of her rare nights off, she is quite happy to hang up her apron and let someone else do the cooking. “I’ve just ticked over 40 years at the stove, and Susan has raised three children and spent the last 25…
Gaze out at the landscape around Rosedale Farm and you might think you’re in a Jane Austen novel. Hills stretch away, studded with oaks and elms, while a tree-lined picket fence marks the property’s boundaries. Crest a rise and you’ll see a classical Georgian-style house overlooking a lake, with clipped box hedges in front and a thriving vegetable garden behind. It’s a picture of rural serenity that Capability Brown himself would approve of; a charming blend of nature and art nurtured into perfection. “I remember at the open house, we were standing by the dam looking back at the house,” says stylist Steve Cordony of buying the property near Orange, NSW, in 2017. “We weren’t saying, ‘Should we buy it?’ We were saying, ‘What are we going to do first?…
