Walk With Me

A video of a walk through Oak & Monkey Puzzle, captured during one of the quietest seasons of my life.



Introducing a Walk With Me

This video is a little time capsule.

It takes us back to Oak & Monkey Puzzle, the five-acre garden at Spargo Creek that was my home, my design laboratory, my place of work and gathering, and, for a long time, my sanctuary. It was where so much of what I now understand about gardens, productivity, seasonality, design and living well was tested in real life.

I filmed this walk during COVID, when the world had gone unusually quiet.

Before that, Oak & Monkey Puzzle had been a place I shared constantly. There were workshops and open gardens, long tables beneath the oaks, events, visitors, conversations and people moving through the landscape. Then, almost overnight, there was none of that. The garden remained, but the community that had animated it could no longer come through the gate.

So I began sharing it in other ways.

This walk was part of that. A way of opening the garden remotely when I couldn't open it physically. A way of saying, come with me, even when we couldn't actually be together.

Watching it now feels very different.

I moved on from Oak & Monkey Puzzle in 2022, but it remains one of the most formative places of my life. It held me through enormous change. It taught me about rhythm, resilience, scale, abundance, exhaustion, rest and what it means for a garden to give something back to the person tending it. Much of what you see in The Productive Garden Companion, and much of what I have created at Little Cottage on a Hill, began there.

So this is my invitation to you to step backwards for a little while.

Come through the door. Walk the paths. Move through the productive garden. See the place as it was, in one particular season, during one of the quietest periods of my life.


Walk With Me

A video of a walk through Oak & Monkey Puzzle, captured during one of the quietest seasons of my life.


Related Resources

If you’re in planning, designing, reviewing or dreaming phase, the Quick Garden Audit, Garden Design Brief and the Zone-Planning Worksheet from the book live in the resources library too. And The Productive Garden Companion itself is the long version of everything here.


Workshops

My workshops are about fostering the reconnection between the layers of everyday life, the self and the natural world.

The Productive Garden with Natasha Morgan - Stonewalls Edition
A$320.00

Time: 10am to 1pm

Dates:

Saturday 21st November 2026

Location: Stonewalls, Musk.

For as long as I can remember, I have tended a productive garden. From childhood veggie patches to the abundant landscapes of Oak and Monkey Puzzle, growing has always grounded me and shaped how I see the world. This workshop draws from that lived experience.

Whether you're working with a courtyard, a veggie patch or a larger garden, this is about creating a productive space that offers both beauty and abundance.

We explore what productive gardening really means. I share how my process has evolved across very different properties—Oak and Monkey Puzzle and Little Cottage on a Hill and for the first time, Stonewalls—blending hands-on learning with thoughtful intent.

We cover soil care, compost systems, green manures, vertical growing, chickens, worms and closed-loop cycles. You’ll see how I use wicking beds as productive, water-wise microclimates, and how I approach different soil types and site conditions.

We talk about heirlooms and hybrids, perennial and medicinal layers, espalier techniques, and the role of beauty in even the most functional plantings.

This is not a technical how-to on growing food. It is a practical and inspiring session on preparing and shaping a garden that is generous, resilient and connected to place. You’ll leave with tools and ideas to help you begin.

'Wicking Bed Garden' workshop with Natasha Morgan
A$320.00

Dates: Sunday 1st November 2026

Time: 10 AM – 12.30 PM

Location: Little Cottage on a Hill, Daylesford

For years, I’ve designed gardens that balance beauty, productivity, and sustainability, but when I discovered wicking beds, they transformed the way I grow. These self-watering garden beds have changed everything—from reducing water use to making gardening more accessible, efficient, and abundant.

In this hands-on workshop, I’ll guide you through the practical steps to create your own wicking beds—whether you’re working with a small courtyard, a backyard, or a larger productive space. You’ll gain an in-depth understanding of how wicking beds work, how to build them using IBC containers, and how to create a thriving, water-wise garden with minimal effort.

We’ll explore my own wicking bed garden at Little Cottage on a Hill, where I’ve grown everything from celery and purple sprouting broccoli to sugar snap peas and edible flowers—all with less watering and less maintenance. You’ll leave with the knowledge and confidence to build a garden that is not only sustainable and resilient but also deeply rewarding to tend.

This workshop is designed for anyone looking to garden smarter—not harder. Whether you’re just starting out or a seasoned grower, wicking beds are a game-changer in sustainable and productive gardening.

Garden Design with Natasha Morgan
A$320.00

Time: 10.00am - 1.00pm

Dates:
Saturday 7th November 2026

Location: Daylesford, Victoria

Whether you're starting from scratch or reshaping an existing space, this half-day garden design workshop invites you to see your garden differently. From the structure of the land up, this is not a plant-by-plant session. It is a place to think like a landscape architect and begin shaping your dream garden with clarity and purpose.

Together, we’ll explore the fundamental principles that guide thoughtful garden design. You’ll learn how to observe and respond to the unique conditions of a site, and how to work with what already exists to support the kind of space you want to create. We’ll talk about how to create rhythm, balance and a sense of flow in the garden. Not through formulas, but through a practice of observation, clarity and intention.

Using tracing paper and bold textas, you’ll begin a layered, iterative design process based on Natasha's own garden. A technique that prioritises experience over detail. This isn’t about where your grandma’s rose will go. It is about learning to see the bigger picture, and how to design in a way that brings coherence and life to your space.

You’ll leave with the tools to create your own garden brief, a new approach to site mapping and design thinking grounded in landscape architecture, and a renewed way of seeing and shaping your garden. No matter its size or complexity.

We draw from real projects such as Oak and Monkey Puzzle and Little Cottage on a Hill, and explore how to reimagine constraints as creative opportunities. There is also a guided tour of Little Cottage on a Hill, where we see how theory comes to life in a compact space.


Come along & join our community, whenever you’re ready...

I’m often hosting new workshops, events, get togethers or collaborations with a range of incredible people. If you’d like to stay in the loop sign up to our mailing list for all event and workshop announcements.

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Hello!

Welcome. This is a little step back in time, into Oak & Monkey Puzzle and a garden that shaped so much of what came afterwards. Walk with me.

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Community & Collaboration

Everything I do is about connection and community. I’m deeply passionate about meeting and working with people, brands and businesses that align with my values. If you think we’d create magic together — I want to hear about it!

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Acknowledgment of Country

We acknowledge the first custodians of the land on which we live and work, the Wurrundjeri People of the Kulin Nation. We pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging and to all First Nations People. Sovereignty was never ceeded and treaties were never signed.

 

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