Regeneration for Generations

Our plans for the farm are nearing completion and we now begin the task of materialising those plans. The illustration below gives some indication of what we have planned for our polyculture system.

We have scheduled the planting and growing of over 60 types of vegetables, fruits and nuts. Our animals include hens, bees, cattle, pigs, goats and fish. Our forestry area will see the planting of indigenous trees such as cedar, pine and black butt to name a few. The infrastructure, amongst necessary farm operational needs such as sheds, includes a conference / common room and luxury safari tents for owner-members to stay in and enjoy.

Share on Facebook

Our first Offer Document (Prospectus) closed on Thursday 20th October and we now have 225 owner-members (shareholders). In financial terms, this means that we have fully paid off our farm and have working capital to begin the next stage.

Our first objective was to fully pay off the land which we consider real security for all involved. Having achieved this first step we can now move forward without any encumbrance such as a mortgage over the land.

2012 promises to be a year that will see the beginning of the realisation of what we envisage will be the most beautiful and productive farm in the world!

Share on Facebook

Organic Farm Share will have artisan food producers creating beautiful organic foods such as jams, sauces, pastas and bread for our owner-members. Hence, it was very important for us to consider our packaging system very carefully.

Glass in Australia is mostly imported from Asia. After being passed from distributor to producer to distributor and finally from store to household, around 40% of it ends up in landfill and is not recycled. The glass that is recycled usually travels thousands of kilometres. A lot of energy is consumed to melt that glass at high temperatures of around 1400 degrees and form it into another glass product. Then the whole cycle starts again.

Have you ever been to a sand mine? It is not a pleasant sight:  a place where nature is degraded and in some locations in Asia, a great deal of marine life is destroyed in the dredging process. And we import that glass so in reality we are responsible.

A simpler option is to have local sterilisation equipment so jars can be returned to be sterilised and then reused. This way, a jar can have a life cycle of 10 or even 20 times until the glass is broken and then recycled.

Share on Facebook

One of the primary reasons for bringing Organic Farm Share into being is Food Security. Over the next 30 to 50 years the world will need to increase its food production by 110%. In other words, in the next one to two generations, we will need to more than double our food output.

Under the conventional agricultural system, this increase in food production will have to be achieved with 1/3 less resources (such as soil and phosphate) and 50% less water.

Phosphate is a non-renewable resource. In other words, it is mined – we cannot manufacture it and, like oil, demand is starting to outstrip supply.

Currently, approximately 45% of the world’s surface is used for agriculture and 1% of that disappears every year mainly due to urban sprawl. Along with urbanisation comes increased demand for water, which is diverted away from agriculture.

We can, however, choose to do it differently and that’s exactly what we are doing at Organic Farm Share.

Share on Facebook

This week, we would like to introduce you to owner-members Beth and Lyndon Blok, who are currently planning our livestock management system. Lyndon and Beth had a small organic farm on the NSW mid-north coast where they grew and produced organic and biodynamic fruit, vegetables, and eggs, and ran a small herd of Dexter cattle.

A primary focus of the animal husbandry system of Organic Farm Share is ethical and humane treatment of our animals. This is a key consideration in the planning.

“The opportunity to be involved in an enterprise that has the potential to transform the face of agriculture in Australia and then the world is really exciting to me. From the way food is grown, the land appreciated and allowed to flourish, to how animals are raised, nurtured and respected is the fulfilment of a lifelong dream.”

“From my perspective, Organic Farm Share is a balanced, holistic and complete model for the future of food production through the creation of community. It is a powerful model for sustainable farming. It is people taking ownership and being fully connected to where their food comes from. I am honoured to be involved with this enterprise.”

Lyndon and Beth have a shared commitment to the well-being of people, the respect and love of animals and a real interest and passion for organic/biodynamic farming practices.

Share on Facebook

In August, we underwent our first organic audit with the certification body Australian Certified Organic (ACO). The soil test report came back squeaky clean with no detectable levels found for over 60 chemicals they tested for!  This report reflects soil conditions that are up there with the best certified organic farms in Australia.

We’ve got test plots currently growing on our farm and some visitors have been lucky enough to arrive in time to harvest some beautiful organic vegies to take home with them.

Photos: Owner-members, Scott Penwarn and daughter Abbey, taking home some of the first organic vegies grown on our farm.

Share on Facebook