A gardener with a good cause
Waitara woman Nicola Fabish chats to Sonja Slinger about how losing her thumb caused her to leap into the Fringe Garden Festival.
Nicola Fabish wants to give back to the emergency service which came to her rescue last year when a wood splitter took her thumb off and damaged part of her finger.
She is so grateful to the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust for flying her to Waikato Hospital for emergency surgery last March that she has spent much of her time since recuperating this year developing her garden to open it for the Fringe Garden Festival and donate all proceeds to the muchneeded service.
It has been quite a challenge trying to garden without her thumb – two attempts to reconnect it were unsuccessful – but she has adapted and through perseverance and hard work, has now created a pretty cottage town garden as a new entry in this year’s festival.
‘‘It is an amazing service and one that we need in Taranaki. Until you need it, you don’t realise how amazing they are – you know, some of the areas that they have to fly to, the people are on call 24/7, they are very dedicated,’’ said Fabish, who now volunteers for the service.
In March 2016 she and husband Murray were splitting and sorting firewood when the accident happened.
‘‘It was at the end of the day, I guess I was tired and losing concentration. Murray was behind me sorting the wood and it just happened, just one of those things,’’ she recalls.
The hydraulic splitter came down on her ungloved hand and severed her left thumb and damaged her finger.
An ambulance took her to Taranaki Base Hospital but within the hour she was being airlifted to Waikato on the emergency helicopter for surgery there.
Fabish, a former farm girl from Inglewood, is matter of fact about it all and says she has just gotten on with life without it. ‘‘Some things can be a bit tricky, like pruning, but it just takes a little bit longer.’’
She has always been interested in gardening and started off working life with an apprenticeship at the former Duncan and Davies nursery. Husband Murray also runs a garden maintenance business and in the 26 years they’ve been living at their Waitara home, the garden has evolved with different designs and plantings.
It was the accident which really prompted Fabish to create something special and open for the festival so she could give back to the Trust.
There are neat beds either side of the drive with roses underplanted in periwinkle, beds running beside the weatherboard character home are full of cottage delights such as irises, dianthus, geraniums and daisies. A centre piece on the lawn features primula of pinks, purples and white.
Fabish’s dad Brian Rosser has helped a lot with garden structures, such as pergolas and raised beds and a cute little summer house for sitting in. Even the chook house is a miniature cottage for the lone hen that resides there now.
‘‘I have an amazing father. I tell him what I would like and ask him nicely if he would make it for me.’’
There are ring-necked doves in the back section sitting pretty in a dovecote and a couple of Flemish giant rabbits are larger than the two resident cats Yogi and Heidi.
It is an amazing service and one that we need in Taranaki. Until you need it, you don't realise how amazing they are – you know, some of the areas that they have to fly to, the people are on call 24/7, they are very dedicated.
Nicola Fabish
Out here is the food area, a vegetable patch full of seasonal produce and fruit trees heavily in blossom.
There is a definite pink theme throughout the garden.
‘‘It’s my favourite colour,’’ says Fabish. ‘‘I’ve always been a pink girl.’’
She is looking forward to the festival, having people come visit and enjoy the cottage theme. ‘‘I always used to visit other people’s gardens and I sort of thought, one day I might do this.’’
And now she is.