Sophie Thomson | Public figure

Sophie Thomson

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25.01.2022 Spent yesterday intoxicated by #roseperfume and other #springscents at The Cedars filming a story for Gardening Australia. The home and garden of Sir Hans Heysen just outside of Hahndorf is an absolute treasure and a must visit, with the roses, iris and perennials, and spring flowering trees and shrubs looking spectacular at the moment. Many of the giant eucalypts on the large acreage that surrounds his home feature in his iconic paintings. #adelaidehills #mypatch #sophiespatch #seesouthaustralia

22.01.2022 Today I visited the Flinders-Chase-Nationalpark on #KangarooIsland which was still closed following last summer’s #wildfire on my last visit to the Island. I felt mixed emotions as I drove and walked around a heavy heart at the scale of the devastation and areas where the regeneration is slow due to moveable sands and other factors. and awe at how amazing and resilient Nature is. Photos can’t do it justice, and for all who can, you should visit to see it for yourself. The well known attractions of the park such as Remarkable Rocks and Admirals Arch are still there and as absolutely extraordinary as ever. #bushfirerecovery #reGrowthGardenRecovery #natureisawesome #welcomebacksa #seesouthaustralia #southaustralia

22.01.2022 Love this film ‘Kiss The Ground’ and think everyone should watch it. In my #gardentalks, including those I am doing over on #KangarooIsland on ‘Summer Proofing your Garden’, I talk about healthy soils = healthy plants, and this film is all about that. It can be seen on Netflix and is well worth watching. Kiss the Ground Movie #mypatch #sophiespatch

21.01.2022 With #Springopengarden at #SophiesPatch just 17 sleeps away, the garden is looking lovely. Blooms look fresh and the paddocks around us are still green, however the ground is dry wherever I haven’t yet mulched or topped up the mulch. Don’t forget this year due to COVID, tickets must be pre-ordered. The savoury and sweet tasting boxes also need to be pre-ordered, however drinks such as barista coffee, tea, our own #elderflowercordial and Mountain fresh juices will be available for purchase on the day. Details at https://sophiespatch.com.au//spring-open-garden-7-9-novem/ #mypatch #seesouthaustralia

21.01.2022 Got home late from a #gardentalk but still managed to get a couple of hours in the garden at #SophiesPatch. The kids helped me for an hour and we got some winter vegies that had passed their productivity pulled out, mulch spread, overgrown paths cleared and frost damaged foliage cut off. #SpringOpenGarden is just three weeks away and I am not around much between now and then, so I need to grab any time I can get. For those who haven’t visited before, this is a #realgarden - it’s not perfect but it is a working garden, and it feeds our family and friends, with excess used to make the cakes and savoury tasting boxes we are preparing for the #opengarden. #mypatch

20.01.2022 Day 3 of #lockdowngardening at #SophiesPatch. It’s been heaven and I am almost disappointed it’s coming to an end. #mypatch #COVIDgardening #horticulturaltherapy

20.01.2022 Spent the day at Junction Australia #KangarooIsland #CommunityCentre and #communitygarden talking #gardening of course!!!!! Lots of fun and enthusiasm, and loved getting to sit outside in this garden that is flourishing after being injected with love and #organicmatter. #mypatch #reGrowthGardenRecovery #SophiesPatch Photos thanks to Maggie's Photography

19.01.2022 Loving the #BigRedGeraniums planted in #diptins in the polyhouse at #SophiesPatch #mypatch

18.01.2022 I grow lots of flowers in my productive areas around #SophiesPatch not only because they look pretty, but more importantly because they are good for my #gardenguardians. There is #borage for the bees and lots of ‘daisies and umbels’ which are great for #beneficialbugs like #ladybirds, #hoverflies and #lacewings. The daisies include calendulas, edible chrysanthemum (chop suey greens) and feverfew, and #umbels which include parsley and coriander in flower, as well as Queen Anne’s lace and chives. These #goodbugs have tiny mouthparts and love these #tinyflowers full of nectar and pollen. For this reason, I also grow #alyssum which is another wonderful #insectaryplant. Bees are obviously needed for #pollination and the good bugs help me manage the #badbugs. #mypatch #organicgardening #companionplanting #daisiesandumbels

15.01.2022 Stan Gorton is a star in the #Kangarooisland community. He writes the local paper The Islander and has just been nominated for the Walkley Award for his coverage of last summer’s horrific bushfires, which is huge honour. I was in Kingscote on Friday when the Premier Steven Marshall presented Stan with a letter of congratulations. Stan was about to take a selfie so I hopped in to take it for him, so Stan’s dog Twiggy could also be in the photo (Stan and Twiggy are a regular si...ght around the town). Ironically, someone took a photo of me taking this photo and it has certainly caused a few chuckles. While on the Island, I also got to check up on Stan’s own vegie patch where he has got #wickingbeds and is doing his own take on #hugelkulture beds. #mypatch #bushfirerecovery #reGrowthGardenRecovery #natureisawesome #welcomebacksa #seesouthaustralia #southaustralia See more

14.01.2022 Had some very #specialguests call in to #SophiesPatch yesterday. Maggie Beer came for her first visit with her friends Julie Gibbs and Dee Nolan . The pressure was on to decide which #SophiesPatch cake to serve to them? Went with ‘Pioneer Rose’ #crabappleslice and it was a winner. Phew!? Thanks Sally Tonkin you are a legend! #mypatch

13.01.2022 The #resilience of the #Australianbush is inspiring as #wildflowers are coming back in bushfire burnt areas across #Kangarooisland. While there are areas with little understorey vegetation appearing, there are drifts in other areas that are stunning. Check these out. #bushfirerecovery #reGrowthGardenRecovery #natureisawesome #welcomebacksa #seesouthaustralia #southaustralia #mypatch #sophiespatch

13.01.2022 The last week at #SophiesPatch and around #SouthAustralia has been crazy and a few things have slipped through the cracks like sharing what a wonderful time we had with Mike and @Gayle Quarmby at the two Australian Native Food #workshops we held. Mike and Gayle have an extraordinary wealth of genuine knowledge and fascinating stories. Mike’s cooking demo of #WarrigalGreens, #Saltbush and #nativeoregano was delicious and each participant went home with Mike’s special selecti...ons of these three plants for their own garden. Our #SophiesPatch morning tea included our famous #gooseeggcustardtarts with a glace quandong on top and #wattleseedbiscuits. The events were lots of fun and we look forward top holding them again in 2021. Here are some photos for you to see and you can check out more at https://sophiespatch.com.au//australian-native-foods-work/ #mypatch #specialevents #nativefoodsworkshop Photos thanks to Darren Clements Photography See more

13.01.2022 As a followup to yesterday's post about the Caper White butterfly, here are some photos of the caterpillar and its chrysalis from when I was given some a few years ago, and hatched them in a jar on my kitchen table. Like all butterflies, the #caperwhitebutterfly is a generalist and loves nectar rich flowers, like the Kiss-me-quick or Red valerian (Centranthus ruber) it was pictured on, or butterfly bushes (Buddleja). Their caterpillars however need specific food or host plant...s and they are either the fruiting caper bush (Capparis spinosa) or the native orange (Capparis mitchellii). As discussed yesterday, there are two forms of the #caperwhite and the one in my garden at the moment is paler than this one pictured. Refer to previous post for more information at https://www.facebook.com/sophiethomsonpublicfigure/posts/2805085289746981 #mypatch #butterflygardening See more

12.01.2022 Looking for some stunning plants for a shady or semi-shaded garden in Adelaide? Don't miss this Begonia and Fern show this coming Saturday. #mypatch #SophiesPatch South Australian Begonia Society

11.01.2022 Something of beauty to focus on.. the Caper White butterfly. There have been more spotted in my garden at #SophiesPatch recently than I have seen here before. Tonight I read in the Butterfly Conservation South Australia newsletter that there has been an influx from good breeding conditions in inland Australia, not only here in South Australia but to all NE, E and SE coastlines. When I first saw them here I looked them up in their book ‘Attracting Butterflies to your Garde...n what to grow and conserve in the Adelaide Region’ and the ones pictured seemed darker than what I saw in my garden. I read in the newsletter tonight that There are two forms of Caper Whites, this year a pale form is most common whereas the image in the book is of the dark form. In the pale form males have a narrow black band on the upper outer edges of their wings and while this is wider in pale form females both males and females of the dark form the band is very wide. Dark females can look almost black. There are even intermediate forms. There you go we never stop learning! Beauty in Nature is all around us we just need to take time to be mindful and observe. This is particularly important during times of uncertainty and angst. #mypatch Photos by Darren Clements Photography See more

10.01.2022 Looking forward to heading up to #Riverton for this #gardentalk next Sunday November 1st after radio. I will be talking about how we can make our garden spaces, cooler, greener and more liveable and I will have some great goodies to give away for a quiz at the end. About to go live to do #talkbackgardening with the one and only #PeterGoers. I love doing this hour of #gardeningtalkback each Sunday as we have lots of laughs, and both gardening and laughter are so good for us! For interstaters, you can tune in at 11.30am AEST via https://www.abc.net.au/radio/adelaide/live/. #mypatch #SophiesPatch #SophiesPatch #mypatch

09.01.2022 I have done four #gardentalks on #KangarooIsland since I arrived on Friday, with a couple more still to do tomorrow. Great to have such a good turn out and connect with #gardeners across the Island, including many who are rebuilding their gardens since summer’s devastating #bushfires. There has been a great sense of #fellowship and #community at each of these gatherings. Here are a few photos taken at the Parndana Community Garden yesterday thanks to Maggie Patterson Maggie's Photography . #mypatch #reGrowthCommunityGarden #SophiesPatch #gardeningafterfire #bushfiregardenrecovery

09.01.2022 ..... and breathe.......... #SophiesPatch #sweetpeas #heavenlyscent #mypatch #scentedblooms #COVID #natureisaawesome #plantsareawesome #SouthAustralia #horticulturaltherapy #mindfulness

06.01.2022 Congratulations Clarence Stockee from Gardening Australia. Well deserved recognition! #abcgardening

06.01.2022 Had the most amazing experience today sailing on the #OneandAllsailingship out of #Kingscote #KangarooIsland. Incredible ship, fabulous crew, and awesome #KIcommunity including lots of #CFSvolunteers. This was one of four sails to thank people who have aided the island's recovery from last summer's bushfires. Friends of the One And All Sailing Ship Inc ReGrowth Garden Recovery #mypatch #reGrowthGardenRecovery #southaustralia #SophiesPatch

04.01.2022 Many things don’t happen when they should in my garden at #SophiesPatch and the longer I garden, the more I realise it often doesn’t matter just do the best you can! Last year some pumpkins got sown at the end of December (two months late) and still fruited successfully, this year garlic got planted in early July (again two + months late) and is coming along well..and these sweet peas which should have been sown in SA on St Patrick’s Day (17th March) didn’t get sown till the end of June. They have been flowering abundantly for months and our house has smelled sweetly from their bunches. However, with 39 or 40 degrees due on Friday and Saturday, I don’t expect they will persist for much longer. #mypatch

04.01.2022 #shade - got to 43 degrees here today and I did have #temporaryshade up using 50% #shadecloth in the #vegiepatch for soft #vegies and #newplantings. Last year I had a more elaborate pullout system (see https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=610936606131306 ) but haven’t had a chance to install that yet in the new area it is needed. As my crops rotate in the vegie patch each year, so does the need for shade, so over the next few weeks I will have to set up a similar system where it is needed. How are you creating shade at #yourpatch? #mypatch

03.01.2022 This is what I am up to on #kangarooisland for the next few days #mypatch #regrowthgardenrecovery

03.01.2022 Headed over to #KangarooIsland this afternoon where I am filming Monday to Friday and came a couple of days early for a #specialevent tomorrow. ..... Took the opportunity to bring a full load of #citrus, #avocados #passionfruit and #antitranspirant for #fireaffectedgardeners on the Island. Now that the ground is warm is the perfect time to plant these subtropical plants and I was able to facilitate buying these plants wholesale with a generous donation from Unley Gardener's P...lant Rescue . Check out their FB page - they propagate plants and have several sales a year donating all proceeds to different charities or organisations. My car load has been left with Anne Morrison from Kangaroo Island Garden Club who had collated requests for these plants and will coordinate their distribution. #community #gardeningafterfire #welcomebacksa #reGrowthGardenRecovery #southaustralia See more