Visit Mount Nelson Ngaire and Larry 2026

The 2026-27 FGG season kicked off with cheers and beautiful sunshine at Ngaire and Larry’s garden in Mount Nelson.

It’s been four years since we last visited and they’ve undertaken some major landscaping renovations – investing in beautiful stone paths, retaining walls and graveled areas around their food garden.

The landscaping has required re-building of their garden beds, which is still a work in progress, but what a great result! 😊Here’s a before and after pics of their front food garden area:

And in the backyard, they’ve revamped their terraced herb garden which is perfectly located near the kitchen:

In addition to being on a steep rocky slope, Mount Nelson has abundant wildlife and restrictions on boundary fencing …. making food growing an extreme sport!! 😱

It requires all sorts of inventive structures for protecting crops …

Due to shading from a neighbouring eucalypt in winter, the largest netted cage is currently being converted from vegetables to fruit and berries:

The veggies are being relocated to a wallaby-proof cyclone fence enclosure immediately around the house. The fence provides a handy trellis for the passionfruit, and olive and other fruit trees have been planted inside the fence to provide privacy from the neighbouring property.

Other fruit trees – citrus, stonefruits and pomegranate take advantage of masonry walls and the new stone paving for warmth and protection.

Apple trees occupy a steep terraced section … making use of all parts of the challenging site.

While initially hoping to use the greenhouse for a range of cold-sensitive crops, Ngaire and Larry found that the shade house’s design (with roof vents but no cross ventilation) has made it difficult to keep cool and control pests such as spider mites.

As a result, year-round shade cloth is required, and its use has been limited to seed propagation and growing tomatoes and cucumbers. Produce is also grown in pots, so they can be moved out in extreme weather.

Note that the shade cloth is fixed below the ventilation flaps so these can still be used to keep the greenhouse cool.

Everyone had a lovely morning – enjoying the spring sunshine, each other’s company, the tasty morning tea and a fab selection on the produce table!

Thanks to Ngaire and Larry for another great garden visit 😊