A Day in the Garden with Sonya Hayes
Since taking the reins of Belinda's Store Yamba NSW in 2023, Sonya has continued the beautiful traditions that Belinda Sanders began back in 2005, curating timeless fashion, thoughtful homewares, and creating a space that feels less like a shop and more like a community gathering place.
With a deep love for beauty in everyday moments and a joyful sense of fun, Sonya brings heart to everything she does, including life beyond the store, in her much-loved garden.
Every morning, rain, hail or golden sunshine, Sonya and her little girl Juni step outside for their first ritual of the day. It’s a simple ceremony, greeting the bugs and plants, gathering fresh flowers for the house, checking who’s thirsty and offering gentle encouragement to anything looking a little tired. “We say good morning to everything,” Sonya laughs. “It’s our way of easing into the day.”
At the centre of her garden obsession are her beloved sweet peas. Year after year they steal her heart, and this season they’re more exuberant than ever. Almost daily they need tending, trimming back eager tendrils, snipping seed pods that dare to form too early, all in the hope of keeping their magical blooms and unforgettable scent going for as long as possible.
Juni, meanwhile, has proudly taken on the role of Head Ladybird Wrangler. Each afternoon, straight after daycare and again before sunset, she’s on the hunt, gently collecting ladybirds and relocating them to plants that need extra help tackling pesky aphids. It’s a tiny act that feels enormous in lessons: care, patience, curiosity, and the magic of watching small hands tend to something bigger than themselves.
These days Sonya doesn’t spend quite as much time in the garden as she once did, so the moments at home have become even more precious. The rhythm is easy and unhurried, tinker a little here, water there, pull a few weeds, and inevitably plant “just one more thing.” Recently, a forgotten stash of dahlia tubers surfaced at the back of the shed and were promptly tucked into the soil. Late to the party perhaps, but with the front yard catching full sun, Sonya knows they’ll still reward the effort with blooms right through until May.
Spring heralds the return of growing fresh produce, snipping herbs and salad leaves for dinner, then settling outside to eat amongst the very plants that fed the meal. It’s the purest pleasure, made even sweeter by passing the experience on to Juni, showing her how good it feels to get her hands dirty.
Juni has also claimed the role of Seed Collector. Together they gather poppy heads and sweet pea pods, cracking them open like tiny treasure chests and carefully storing the seeds for next year’s planting. It’s a gentle lesson in patience and cycles, the beauty of planting today for tomorrow’s joy.
For Sonya, her flower patch is more than produce and plants...
“It’s my therapy,” she says, “my calm within the chaos.”
It’s where she reconnects with herself, the rhythms of nature, and simply being with her daughter, digging, picking, learning, and answering a million curious little questions.
As the day winds down, the last tip of the watering can, and the final handful of weeds tossed aside, Sonya and Juni kick back together. Feet up, a little tired, a lot happy, always sharing a big laugh as the garden settles into evening calm.
It’s this same warmth, thoughtfulness, and deep love for life’s small rituals that Sonya brings into Belinda’s Store each day, a reminder that beauty isn’t just something we wear or decorate our homes with… it’s something we live, tend, and grow, one gentle moment at a time.
Follow along for more of Sonya’s life between Belinda’s Store and the garden.
