This past weekend I celebrated my birthday with a four day getaway to a friend’s place in Wollombi. We wiled away most of our days lazing in the sun on the big balcony overlooking the valley. On Saturday I spent the morning visiting some great people down the road at Laguna Earth House (more on that in a moment) and in the evening everyone helped prepare a delicious paella which we ate around the fire pit we cooked it on.

Laguna Earth House is owned by the charming Rosie and Nigel. The main house was self-built with the help of their son using environmentally friendly mud bricks, straw bale and locally sourced timber, and is fitted with solar panels for all their energy needs. The garden is an overflowing bounty of organic fruit, vegetables, herbs and salad leaves. Rosie and Nigel are self taught gardeners and builders and are now keen to share their knowledge through workshops in organic gardening, alternative building techniques and other sustainable practices.

Check out their Facebook page for regular updates and information on upcoming workshops. Next up is ‘Autumn Food Preserving and Fermentation’ on 18 May.

A very warm thank you to Rosie, Nigel and Andy for sharing their home and garden with us.

All photographs by Sophia Kaplan.