WHO WE ARE
We are Chris and Anna, two people with a passion for farming who were lucky enough to find each other. We started the farm in 2018 with a few sheep and many big ideas. Over the years we’ve tweaked those ideas as we’ve learned, but the drivers that brought us here remain the same: animal welfare, minimising our impact on the environment, and eating quality food.
Our previous experiences and varied skillsets mean we can manage different areas of the farm and business, but help each other out when needed. Chris handles all things vegetables, mammals, cooking, and general farm management and maintenance, while Anna looks after eggs, birds, accommodation, marketing and administration.
We love the work and lifestyle here, and are hopeful that the future will bring more small scale farms into our food system. We love sharing our food and our farm with others, so if you like the idea of knowing exactly where your food comes from, please read on!
WHAT WE DO
We grow chemical-free vegetables, herbs and fruit; raise animals for pork, lamb, beef and eggs, with welfare at the forefront; make small-batch preserves, meals and desserts from our produce; and host visitors in our guest cottage for a unique farm experience.
All of our products are available for sale from the farm gate (open on Saturdays), to local residents and visitors alike. We also supply a handful of South Gippsland restaurants and IGAs who genuinely support local farmers.
Our goal is to achieve maximum freshness and flavour in our food, using organic methods, while still remaining sustainable and being affordable to a broad range of customers. We're focused on preserving and improving the landscape, supporting wildlife populations and restoring habitat, and we attempt to incorporate this interest into all of our farming practices.
We run mostly heritage breeds of livestock on the farm for many reasons, such as temperament, hardiness, and superior flavour. Our breeds include:
Sheep: Black-faced Suffolk
Pigs: Berkshire cross
Cattle: Friesian cross (dairy steers)
Chickens: Sussex and Plymouth Rock
METHODS
You could say that our style of farming is a modernised version of pre-industrial agriculture. We primarily use hand tools in our market gardens, using our small two-wheel tractor only in the initial preparation of garden beds. Hand tools include broadforks, hoes, wheel seeders (pictured) and more.
We use only natural products and practices to run our farm, however we do use appropriate medications in our herds and flocks when it is necessary, to support our animals’ health.
The closest definition of what we do is regenerative agriculture. Regenerative agriculture uses practices that enrich soils and restore soil biodiversity to increase carbon in the environment - ultimately, to reverse the effects of climate change in our small corner of the earth.
The practices we use to achieve this include, but are not limited to:
Restoring trees and other habitat to cleared land (from seed and grafts)
Improving habitat biodiversity to help native wildlife populations thrive (by creating homes for insects and birds, growing plants for bees)
Using a 'low till' gardening method that has a low impact on soil structure
Long-term reduction of bought-in feed for animals and ourselves
Capturing water and reusing it again and again
Reusing manure from animals
Rotational grazing: controlling the amount of pasture animals have access to and moving them regularly to give the grass a rest
Supporting other local farms
Everything on our farm has a purpose, contributing to one or more other aspects of the farm. All the 'waste' on our farm also has a purpose, and can be used in some other way. It's all part of the holistic, sustainable cycle we're aiming for. For example, our pigs break down overgrown gardens and fertilise the land as they go; we then plant our vegetables or crops in that earth; any of the waste from our veggie production then becomes pig feed; and eventually, those pigs will feed us and our community.
We are always happy to talk about our farming methods so feel free to contact us for more information. We share details of our farming journey through our blog and our social media as a way of not only being transparent with our customers, but to encourage others who may be thinking of starting a small farming enterprise from scratch.
Further reading
"The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower's Handbook for Small-scale Organic Farming" by Jean-Martin Fortier
"Making Small Farms Work" by Richard Perkins
"Sustainable Market Farming" by Pam Dawling
"The Third Plate" by Dan Barber
"In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan
"The River Cottage" by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Geoff Lawton online courses
The Mulloon Institute
The Regenerative Agriculture Initiative
PROOF: Pasture Raised On Open Fields
Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance
Landcare Australia