Welcome to Sarah's Garden

In this article series we’re chatting with Kiwi gardeners, to discover what it is about gardening that brings them the most happiness and satisfaction.

We’ve all heard about the emotional and practical benefits a garden can bring, so we’d like to share some of that good stuff with you. We’ll look at some amazing gardens, listen to great advice, and ask happy gardeners to talk about their pride and joy.

This time we’re visiting Sarah O'Neil.

You could call Sarah (you may already know her as Sarah the Gardener) an obsessed gardener, as all things gardening occupy every aspect of her life. She lives in an extreme location, only 100m from the shoreline of the wild West Coast, just slightly north of the Waikato River mouth.

Technically, it's considered a subtropical region, so you'd expect to see weather more typical of areas further North. In the seven years she’s been there, she hasn’t seen a frost, even when there's a heavy frost just inland, lurking at the end of her 1km-long driveway. But on the other hand, while there are benefits to a frost-free environment, the harsh coastal conditions can wreak havoc throughout the garden when strong salt-laden Westerly winds roar through, straight off the sea.

In spite of coming from a long line of gardeners, it took having small children for Sarah’s gardening journey to begin. Their first house in the city didn’t have much room for a garden, so her first garden was a couple of pots with strawberries, peas and tomatoes.

A diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis 19 years ago prompted a complete lifestyle change; the young family moved to the country. In hindsight, this was the best decision for the whole family. The move sparked a passion that led to an amazing career, that Sarah had never imagined possible.

Going from a compact 24 square metres to 3 luxurious acres, Sarah knew she wanted to start a vegetable garden, to reap the health benefits from tending the garden, breathing clean air and eating fresh vegies. It turned out digging the former paddock wasn’t easy...so Tom, (AKA Hubby the Un-Gardener) stepped in and finished the job. To this day, he's still ‘digging on demand!’

Sarah remembers that first season in the garden as just perfect, with ideal weather and little pest pressure. With hindsight, she now thinks the rose-tinted memories were probably naive obliviousness to the woes of a more experienced gardener! Early success bolstered Sarah with enough confidence and bravado, that it launched her into a life-changing love of gardening. Even the eventual realisation her garden was in an old swamp, and the challenges this brought, didn’t dampen her enthusiasm.

This coincided with the very first Yates Spring Vegie Growing Challenge, a nationwide blogging competition that shared the ups and downs of getting the garden prepared for the coming season. She didn’t win the first competition, but collected the grand prize in the second...and went on to collaborate with Yates, to become the Moderator for the challenge until its final season in 2023.

This relationship with Yates, along with a newfound love of writing, led her to a successful garden writing career. Sarah now has three books under her belt, is a contributor to many garden publications and has a much-followed social media profile. Along the way, she has become an engaging public speaker and botanical Tour Guide.

Sarah’s coastal garden is a mix of natural wildness and rigid formality. The house is a 1930’s bungalow, relocated from Tauranga, 200km away. The vegetable garden, nestled in between two hills, consists of 35 raised garden beds with a focus on a wide variety of crops, rather than a great abundance of any single one. 

With a recently emptied nest, the relentless filling of hollow teenage legs isn't her top priority, so Sarah is trying to downsize. Not that the garden is getting any smaller! Over the last few years, Sarah has been working on her passion project: The Palace Garden, a series of interconnecting garden rooms. She's learning through trial and error what works well in her coastal environment - to create a really special garden she's proud to share with visitors.

The first room features a huge handmade rock embraced with a rosemary hedge, started from cuttings from the herb garden. The next garden room is planted with natives and will have a more natural style when it fills in and reaches its full potential, in seasons to come. 

“New plants will ‘sleep,’ ‘creep,’ and then ‘leap’ over several seasons as they settle into their new environment” says Sarah.

This garden room also contains a sundial and compass plinth, that hides a time capsule within its brick interior.

The third room is currently under construction. It will be a dining room, with spectacular sea views out to the setting sun. The planting will be a 'moon garden' style, to enhance the alfresco dining experience. Once that's completed, work will begin on yet another room in The Palace Garden!

Q&A with Sarah

What's the most unusual or quirky thing in your garden?

“The quirkiest thing has to be my geodesic 'biodome' greenhouse. I originally wanted a traditional aluminium and glass one, but before purchasing my ‘dream’ greenhouse a storm ripped through our new property with winds much stronger than the greenhouse was rated for, so it was decided to build something more rugged...even if it did significantly bust the budget!"

What's your favourite thing to grow in the garden?

"I love to try everything once...and the fun things twice. My garden wouldn’t be the same without the strange and unusual! Okra, Kohlrabi and Peanuts became a regular feature, but Chickpeas, Asparagus Peas and Caigua (Cyclanthera pedate) only made a single appearance."

What do you do with a glut, and all the extra fruit and vegetables you grow?

"Not wanting to waste anything, I freeze, preserve, pickle and look for interesting ways to use excess produce. Watermelon Jam, Marrow Soup (frozen in single portions) and homemade Kimchi are a great way to use up large harvests."

What are the coolest things you've grown and cooked, and the most memorable meals that have come out of your garden?

"BBQing peas in their pods steams them and makes them so delish."
"A galette - a simple pie filled with fresh, in-season vegetables. Just a wonderfully easy meal from the garden."

What do you struggle with?

"Aside from the wind, my struggles are the usual things – rust in my garlic, Tomato Potato Psyllids and horrible possums.

What's your favourite Yates product that you love to use, or swear by?

"If I had to pick my two absolute favourite Yates products, it has to be the Thrive Natural Seaweed Tonic and Dynamic Lifter. The seaweed tonic supports my young seedlings as they grow. The micro-communities in my garden soil love Dynamic Lifter, especially after they've had an active season sustaining my crops."

What advice would you give someone who's just starting out?

"Just start! Grow what you love. And to quote something I once heard on a podcast…“It’s ok if a plant dies, it’s not a puppy!”

Sarah’s Top Tips for February

• Late summer is time to start thinking about cool season crops, even if it's still hot out there.
• Keep the soil hydrated. Plants use water molecules to transport nutrients from the soil into their roots: if it isn’t there, all processes in the plant grind to a halt.
• Treat pests and problems as soon as you spot them.