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Green thumb favourite open for a good cause

Posted on October 24, 2011

By BEN PISCIONERI

GARDEN lovers from as far away as Casterton and the Riverland are expected to converge on Sunraysia’s Farm Gate Gardens early next month for a one-off open garden weekend, and it’s all for a good cause.

GARDEN FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Farm Gate Gardens owners Mary and Greg Taylor flank Sunraysia Cancer Resources co-ordinator Viona Woodroffe.

The popular venue is actually the private garden of land-owners Mary and Greg Taylor, who opened their garden, combined with a cafe and gift shop, to the public three days a week for four years.

At the end of those four years there were more than 3000 Farm Gate Gardens members, including regular visitors from outside the district.

There was even a television segment featuring the gardens, which aired on WIN Television three years ago.

Seeking a lifestyle change a couple of years ago, Mary and Greg decided to close their garden to the public, much to the disappointment of many regular visitors.

“We had been running it for four years without a break, opening on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays year-round, which made it difficult for us to have a weekend break,” Greg said this week.

In between those opening days, the Taylors were kept busy preparing their garden, cafe and giftshop for the following weekend.

While their gardens may have been closed to the public for the past two years, the Taylors’ love of gardening has continued and the couple have maintained and developed their garden ever since.

However, a constant stream of requests to re-open their gardens recently got the couple thinking about a one-off open weekend.

“We did the lifestyle change and in that time a lot of people, both regular visitors and those who had never seen the gardens, came up to us and said they’d like to have a chance to visit,” Mary said.

These requests combined with a major revamp in the wake of this year’s heavy rain in February led to the Taylors deciding to open their garden once again.

“We thought that seeing so many people had asked, we’d do a one-off, and we thought November would be best as most of the other major events around this time of the year are over,” Mary said.

The couple also decided it was time to give something back to the community that had supported their venue over the years and singled out Sunraysia Cancer Resources, not only because of the good work the organisation is doing in the district, but also because of the comfort they’d seen their garden have on those suffering from cancer.

“We thought we would like to donate part of the gate takings and cancer was foremost on our minds,” Mary explained.

“We had a myriad of different people come through here and did get quite a lot of people who had cancer or who were in remission or having chemotherapy.

“One lady I remember who came through said her husband brought her.

“She said she hadn’t wanted to come, but he had made her and she was glad that he had because after walking around the gardens she’d forgotten all about her problems.”

Mary and Greg also chose Sunraysia Cancer Resources after discovering the group doesn’t receive any government funding, relying largely on donations to continue helping Sunraysia residents with the cancer.

Sunraysia Cancer Resources will be among a host of different organisations and individuals who will have displays at the gardens.

Attractions will include Alfresco Art, Crafty Stuff, Kev ‘n Ken the Flower Men, Red Dog Bakery, Woolshed Pantry and the McGrath Foundation.

Mary and Greg said they’ve already been made aware of visitors travelling from Casterton, Underbool and Naracoorte, Berri and Renmark in South Australia.

Farm Gate Gardens will open its gates to the public on the weekend of Nov5/6, from 10am to 4pm both days.

Entry is $5 per person. Ten percent of all entry fees will be donated to Sunraysia Cancer Resources. Tea/coffee and biscuits will be available.

Farm Gate Gardens is located at 75 Carwarp Avenue, Irymple. To get there from Deakin Avenue, turn left into Sixteenth Street, travel five kilometres and turn right into Millewa Avenue and follow the signs.

Greg and Mary can be contacted on 0429 017 387.

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