Kitchen garden: Trisha Dixon's home fires

Bobundara dates back to the 1830s and wood fires heat the house. The original kitchen was in a stone building across a courtyard so some years ago, when a shearers quarters nearby was pulled down, her father, Neville Burkitt, used it to build a north-facing kitchen with views. Situated on the banks of the Myalla Creek, which is running a banker at present, the dry stone walls encircling the garden are a snake mecca. The creek runs into the blue-ribbon trout fishing stream of the Bobundara at the bottom of the lucerne paddocks.

There is not a single meal Trisha eats at Bobundara without having foraged from the garden. For breakfast there are old English mullberries, raspberries, red and black currants, strawberries not already eaten by fat blue-tongues, figs, quinces, apricots, apples, pears and cherries from the orchard. Tea is lemon verbena steeped in hot water and fruit and vegies go into the juicer each morning. Elderflower cordial is made from the blossom of a venerable elderflower shrub growing on the site of the old Expert's Cottage (the wool classer) on the property.

A long table is set under the elm trees for picnic lunch with friends who enjoy a symphony from blue wrens, yellow robins, rufous whistlers, magpies, kookaburras and honeyeaters. In the evening, friends join impromptu piano get-togethers where you have to play a musical instrument to join in. Candlelit wining and dining is followed by singing for one's supper. Sloe gin made from fruit from a sloe tree planted by Trisha 15 years ago or a stunning cherry brandy give courage to perform!

After the gold rush of the 1860s many Chinese people were unsuccessful finding enough gold to secure their passage home so they found work on the Monaro for a few years. A Chinese gardener was hired when Bobundara Station was a 20,000-acre property owned by the Edwards family. He lived in a little hut by a creek and planted some Kentish cherries. All trace of the hut has gone but there are now hundreds of Kentish cherry trees that delight the birds and Trisha's Christmas visitors who walk across the paddocks with buckets and spend hours pipping cherries to pop in jars, sprinkle with sugar and top with brandy. They are stored in an old safe.

Trisha plays tennis with a group of women in Cooma so the tennis court at Bobundara had not been used for years. It has provided the perfect template for the vegie garden of Trisha's dreams. A year ago, the tramlines were planted with raspberries, the base line with red and black currants, the lines with garlic and shallots. In each serving rectangle are large garden blocks of four main staples, spinach and silver beet, kale, rocket and lettuce. There is a huge bank of pumpkins and zucchini. The watering system was installed by friends Ian and Liz Litchfield and Hilary and Andrew Smith and the crowning glory is a tennis-themed commissioned sculpture by Alison Star who has won awards at the Raglan Gallery in Cooma.

Trisha leads specialist tours within Australia and overseas, to Italy, the Mediterranean and France. The focus is on landscape design, history, art, literature and food (www.trishadixon.com) The travellers enjoy entry to private properties, gardens and homes. Earlier this month they travelled in the Clare Valley where a feature was gourmet meals served in private homes. Vignerons spoke about their wines and they visited Trisha's favourite winery, Skillogalee. The previous tour was to the Amalfi Coast in conjunction with friend Principessa Philippa Torlonia, when they dined at private palazzos and villas. A memorable meal was at Da Adolfo near Positano, reached by boat, where seafood was accompanied by peach infused wine. The duo will lead tours to the Veneto region and the Greek islands next year.

Susan Parsons is a Canberra writer.