3. Good Organic Gardening - May-June 2016 AvxHome.in

AMAZING GARDEN | Royal Mail Hotel
Gardener extraordinaire,
Michelle Shanahan
Stamp of
approval
Even in far-flung Melbourne, foodies are agog about the Royal Mail
Hotel and its organic produce, thanks to chef Robin Wickens and
kitchen gardener Michelle Shanahan
Words Jana Holmer
Photos Jana Holmer & Royal Mail Hotel
the small town of Dunkeld lies at
the base of Mount Sturgeon at the
southern end of the Grampians,
three hours from Melbourne.
For roughly one-and-a-half centuries, the
Royal Mail Hotel has stood on the Glenelg
Highway in Dunkeld. It began as a bluestone
inn for travellers, stables and a staging post
for the Cobb & Co mail service, a function
that gave it its name.
In the late 1990s, a multi-million-dollar
refurbishment graced the original colonial
structure with a modern, glass-enclosed
room housing an award-winning restaurant
with a world-class wine list, as recognised by
UK-based The World of Fine Wine magazine.
Not every rural eatery can boast two hats
in The Age Good Food Guide and some of the
credit must go to Michelle Lee Shanahan, who
lives in one of the hotel’s old outlying cottages
and presides over the kitchen garden, with its
spectacular backdrop of the Grampians and
looming Mount Abrupt, just 7km away.
Formerly from Kurri Kurri in the NSW
Hunter Valley, Michelle has a diploma in
horticulture and landscape design and has
been gardening since she could walk.
“As an only child, I always loved my nanna’s
hydrangeas,” she recalls. “I’d potter around
the farmhouse, create a garden and learn
about plants. This made me very content.”
With a natural affinity for gardening,
Michelle considers herself a nurturer and is
very much attracted to a sustainable lifestyle.
34 | Good Organic Gardening