When I was a little girl I had a family friend who taught me how to garden. She would let me dig and potter around her magnificent inner Melbourne Garden, sending me home with a cutting or packet of seeds to try my hand at home. For as long as I can remember I have always had a vegetable garden, and I’ve always made preserves. In fact I avoided nearly an entire architecture degree by devoting more and more of my garden to the production of fruit and vegetables resulting in extravagant homemade Christmas hampers for every family member.

I am constantly collecting preserving recipes to try out, and the Fowlers Vacola preserving kit that I inherited from my grandmother is one of my most treasured possessions.

There is a sense of satisfaction that’s unparalleled by growing, tending, harvesting, preserving and sharing. To be able to grow something chemically free and it at its absolute peak bottle it for a rainy day, gives me an overwhelming sense of achievement and pride. 

My preserves and syrups are about just that; local and home - grown, organic, chemical-free produce, picked at the height of season, and laboriously prepared by hand in small batches with passion, to capture the perfect flavours of the time. 

Workshop includes:

• Learning how to preserve for each season, including drying, dehydrating, syrup making, pickling, learning how to preserve seasonal fruits and flowers making shrubs,

• A beautiful morning tea to share baked and bottled from Natasha’s larder.

• Recipe cards

• Goodie bag

• Every opportunity to take some time for yourself to ‘unplug’ for the morning and be inspired.

“I attended a Productive Garden workshop at Natasha’s ‘Little Cottage on the Hill’ on a chilly wintery Daylesford morning. It was such a cosy and welcoming experience. Natasha’s lovely nature shines through as she shares her gardening experience and tips. I came away full of ideas and possibilities and a sense that I was perfectly able to achieve these. I was so glad I attended.” Bernadette

“What a warm and welcoming environment Natasha created. The workshop was informative, practical and accessible for all levels of skill and prior knowledge. Thank you so much Natasha.”

“Totally inspired by the workshop held by Natasha Morgan . After visiting Oak & Monkey Puzzle it was amazing to see and hear how much Natasha has achieved in such a short time at Little Cottage on a Hill. It is such a special place and very inspiring to see her new adventure.” Lynette

About Natasha:

Natasha does many things including running a small artisan preserve business that stocks her seasonal syrups in over 30 stores, accommodation and gift box offerings, and bars across Victoria and Australia. Natasha Morgan is also an award winning landscape architect by profession and a multi-disciplinary creative collaborator by natural inclination. 

For a decade Natasha worked on some of Australia's most significant landscape architecture and urban design projects - notably several years spent managing the design and construction of The Australian Garden, Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne. Concurrently she shared her craft as a sessional lecturer in Masters of Landscape Architecture at RMIT and Melbourne Universities. 

In 2014 she made a tree change with a purpose to Spargo Creek, a tiny hamlet just outside of Daylesford in the Central Victorian Highlands.

Here Natasha transformed a dream into reality, creating Oak and Monkey Puzzle, the internationally renowned design, event and horticultural production focussed property and its idyllic gardens. 

Oak and Monkey Puzzle not only provided an evolving special hub for, garden design, artisans and craftspeople by way of workshops, collaborations, and bespoke events. It engendered a warm sense of community, sparked dynamic conversations, fostered collaborative connections, cultivated creativity and provided a place for meeting of the minds. 

It is here, also, that Natasha began her journey creating a way of life she had long yearned for. Rooted in her flower, berry and kitchen gardens, orchards and forest surrounds, she learnt to live with the land, the shifting season’s, and how to live ‘well’. 

Earlier this year, Natasha and her family moved on from the idyllic property. In this next chapter, Natasha has set herself the challenge of taking the best of the lessons learnt at Oak & Monkey Puzzle’s 5 acres, combined with her love for gardens, growing, harvesting, cooking and preserving, and distilling this in the design of beautifully productive and sustainably focussed gardens at her new 515 square metre Daylesford property, Little Cottage on a Hill.

Natasha is a sought after public speaker, workshop teacher and facilitator, and creative collaboration partner.  Natasha shares her inspiring story of tree change, garden design, and country life, through guest speaker events, writing, her workshops, social media following, print and digital media.  She has been widely featured both locally and internationally, including Australian Woman’s Weekly, Country Style magazine, Better Homes & Gardens (Channel 7),  and recently The Block (Channel 9).