Article: A Day in the Garden with Jess Hislop
A Day in the Garden with Jess Hislop
Set amongst the rolling country of Victoria’s Macedon Ranges, Rondelie Estate is home to Jess Hislop, interior stylist, co-owner of the property and mother of three girls.
SHOP JESS'S TOOL BELT
The region has a cool temperate climate, with proper seasons, frosty winters and summers that bring plenty of time outdoors. It suits a life lived close to the garden, though, as Jess will tell you, there is never a shortage of work waiting outside.
Nearly two years into life at Rondelie Estate, Jess and her family are still settling into the land and making it their own. There are cows in the paddocks, a vegetable garden waiting for its next chapter, plans for bees, new fencing and, if Jess gets her way, a few more animals yet.
For our latest Day in the Garden, Jess takes us through an ordinary day at home. It begins before sunrise and ends where she so often finds herself: outside with her girls.
SHOP JESS'S HAT
5:30am — first look outside
Jess is naturally an early riser, and before she does anything else, she looks out of the bedroom window to see what has wandered into the backyard overnight.
Kangaroos are regular visitors. Every now and then there will be a wombat, kookaburra or stag, sightings the family still finds special, even after nearly two years here.
Then it’s hot tea, her favourite dressing gown and a pair of Tom’s socks, because his are apparently always warmer.
Weather permitting, Jess takes her tea outside to her favourite chair.
For an hour, the house is completely still. She thinks, scrolls, makes lists and maps out the day ahead before anyone else wakes.
6:30am — coffee machine on
The silence doesn’t last long.
One by one, the girls appear and the morning gathers pace: breakfast, lunch boxes, uniforms, hair and, according to Jess, approximately 400 reminders to get ready for school.
The twins are six and London is eight, so they’re increasingly independent, though getting three children through the door on a school morning still requires a certain amount of choreography.
Tom makes Jess an extra-hot coffee while she gets everyone sorted, then they’re off for school drop-off.
9:30am — whatever the day brings
Once Jess arrives home, things can head in ten different directions.
There are cows to feed, emails to answer and meetings to get through. She’s also working on launching her own brand, Rondelie, something she has wanted to do for a long time.
Then there is the estate itself.
The vegetable garden is due for a complete overhaul. An apiary is being organised for the back paddock. There’s new fencing to put in and regular discussion about bringing more animals onto the property.
On that last point, Jess admits she is usually the one doing the suggesting while Tom says no.
He is, however, coming around to pigs.
Somewhere amongst all of this, there is invariably something to plant, prune, mow or weed.
Anyone with a garden will recognise the feeling. You go outside to do one job, notice another on the way, and return to the house two hours later having done neither of the things you intended.
At Rondelie Estate, the list is long. That doesn’t appear to bother Jess much.
4:00pm — back outside
After school pick-up, Jess usually finds herself in the garden again.
This time, there are fewer lists involved.
She waters, pulls weeds and picks whatever flowers or herbs are looking good to bring inside. Before long, the girls wander out and join her.
It has become their little afternoon ritual.
No elaborate plans. No need to make an occasion of it. Just a mother and her daughters outside together, getting a few garden jobs done as the day begins to wind down.
SHOP JESS'S WOODEN + STEEL SECATEURS
And amongst everything happening at Rondelie, a young family, a new brand, cows to feed, paddocks to tend and plenty still to be planted, those ordinary afternoons seem to be the ones that matter.
A handful of weeds pulled. Something clipped for the house. Three little girls somewhere nearby.
A very good way to finish the day.
If you enjoy country gardens, considered interiors and watching a home and garden take shape over time, follow Jess Hislop and Rondelie Estate. With the vegetable garden overhaul, apiary plans, the launch of Rondelie and the ongoing campaign for pigs, there is plenty still to come.
