A Day in the Garden with Claire Austin
Out on Gin Gin Station, where the climate leans semi-arid, and the soil holds tightly to its clay roots, Claire Austin has created something that feels almost unexpected: a garden that softens the landscape, offering pockets of green, shade, and life against the vastness of the farm.
Claire is a Central West NSW gardener, Grazier columnist, and founder of Gin Gin Garden Club, whose love for the land began on her family’s farm and grew alongside her grandmother in the garden.
She describes gardening as a “slow form of theatre.” And as you move through her day, you begin to understand exactly what she means.
SHOP LE SAC GARDEN ESSENTIALS
6:00 - 8:00am
The day begins gently, coffee in hand, a wander through the garden, shifting sprinklers before the heat sets in. It’s less about rushing, more about observing.
Summer, she shares, is not the season of doing but of enjoying.
Of watching children run through sprinklers, of impromptu dinners on the lawn, of letting the garden breathe after the work of cooler months.
8:00 - 10:00am
Once the morning rush settles, the garden becomes a shared space again. Her youngest rides along on the mower, turning maintenance into memory-making. This is the rhythm of her garden, not separate from life, but woven into it.
10:00am - 12:00pm
There’s something about mowing, she says, that offers perspective. From this vantage point, the garden reveals itself, a weedy patch here, an edge to refine there. Nothing urgent. Just quiet noticing.
12:00 - 1:00pm
Lunch is simple and seasonal. A tuna mix layered onto corn thins, lifted with fresh rocket and garden cucumbers, a small but satisfying reflection of what’s growing just beyond the kitchen door.
1:00 - 3:30pm
Late summer brings its own challenges, kikuyu creeping into garden beds, the constant need to edge, weed, and restore. Claire works in sections, one area at a time. No overwhelm. Just steady progress.
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3:30 - 4:00pm
The day shifts beyond the garden, parcels packed and ready, town trips woven into family rhythms. Even here, the garden continues to influence the pace and priorities of the day.
SHOP LE SAC GARDEN ESSENTIALS
As a Grazier columnist, Claire’s garden shapes the way she writes, practical, grounded, and deeply aware of how overwhelming gardening can feel with young children.
Her work gently guides others back to simplicity: what to do, when to do it, and where to begin.
Because sometimes, the hardest part is simply starting.
Follow along with Claire at Gin Gin Garden Club for more of her garden and seasonal rhythms.
