“I am willing to lose quite a lot of hard work and some crops in waiting for the balance to happen” – Paul Watzlaff
Kooweerup’s Thriving Foods Farm is doing exactly that – thriving – as RUSSELL BENNETT discovered when he ventured down to South Gippsland to speak to the duo behind it.
Kooweerup’s Thriving Foods Farm has built up a stellar reputation in a matter of just a few short years and it all started when Paul Watzlaff was living in Sydney.
Rather than When Harry Met Sally, this was all about when Paul met Clare – his future partner Clare McCulloch.
“We met in October 2014 and I swooped him down to Melbourne where we still kept the vision alive of having our own place – our own farm and our own land,” Clare explained from the Thriving Foods Farm stall at the Leongatha Farmers Market recently.
“Then in October last year we moved into our farm and started growing things steadily from there, and doing farmers markets.”
Paul and Clare missed the first Leongatha farmers market in May but have been a staple ever since.
“That’s an important part of this whole system,” Paul said.
“Getting our produce to people within the community and getting it to them as fresh as possible.”
As they explain on the Thriving Foods Farm Facebook page, Paul and Clare pride themselves on producing the best and most delicious farm-fresh vegetables and eggs grown locally, organically, bio-dynamically and in harmony with permaculture principles.
Everything they sell at local markets has been picked the night before by Paul – often as late as midnight or 1am.
“We don’t use any sprays or chemicals whatsoever on the farm so everything needs to be weeded diligently by very helpful hands,” Clare added.
Occasionally, the weeds do tend to take over at the farm – but Paul is quick to add “that’s fine because they add to the eco-system”.
“At the end of a crop when there are lots of weeds around they get turned back into the soil and provide some nutrients to the next crop coming through,” he said.
Clare described the soil at their Kooweerup farm as “like chocolate cake”. It’s a big part of the reason behind why they chose to settle in the local area.
“It’s really good growing down here and we wanted to be somewhere within about an hour of the city, an hour from mum and dad, and an hour from friends, so it’s just a really great semi-central location not too far away,” Clare said.
“We were looking at places on the Mornington Peninsula and even looking in Pakenham Upper but Kooweerup just had the perfect climate and eco-system, and the most delicious soil.”
Paul explained that the soil along the swamp already contained a high amount of organic material which allowed them to work with the land, rather than against it.
Thriving Foods Farm has a presence at markets right across Melbourne and the south-east – from Kingston, to Eltham, Berwick, Red Hill, Mornington, Warragul and Leongatha.
The newly-established Leongatha Farmers Market already fills a niche in the south Gippsland region.
“It’s just finding its feet and what I love about it is that it’s a farmers market and local artisans all mixed in together,” Clare explained.
“There are people doing face painting and there are lots of activities for the kids, and there’s also lots of different fresh, hot food available and, obviously, our amazing veggies and eggs, too.”
Paul and Clare have built their reputation on a stunning array of seasonal produce and fresh eggs.
“Right now we’re in a transition period so there’re things like cauliflower and broccoli that are starting to tail off and now there’re zucchinis coming through, the lettuces have just begun and then in a couple of months’ time we’ll start seeing some tomatoes and some cucumbers and then finishing off with things like pumpkins and things that take a little bit longer to mature,” Paul said.
They produce plenty of silverbeet, kale, and parsley to name just a few other lines.
“It’s almost like sometimes people come to the market and they’ve all got the same ideas in their heads of what it is they want, and generally it’s what’s just coming on,” Paul said.
“I think people do have a natural instinct towards what is the freshest and best.”
Clare added: “A big one that we’re growing that not a lot of other people are is the beetroots.
“Our beetroots are very juicy and succulent and because of our delicious soil they’re doing very well.
“We don’t use any sprays or chemicals whatsoever – not even the certified organic sprays.
“It’s totally chemical-free farming so it’s bee-friendly and you can even eat the leaves of any of the plants of the vegetables we’re growing.”
Paul and Clare also pride themselves on the Thriving Foods market stall serving as a kind of educational tool for local backyard growers and gardeners.
“Talking with backyard gardeners, they might say, for example, ‘oh no, my kale is getting eaten up’ … I just keep on recommending patience because even though the first round might get eaten up, if you persevere with it then what will end up happening is that an eco-system will form in your backyard, just like an eco-system has formed within the Thriving Foods Farm,” Paul said.
“In some areas, yes the pests will take over but because we have enough predatory insects and predatory birds who know that we’ve got the good stuff, eventually it will all balance out.
“That’s why I think this is a bit different – I am willing to lose quite a lot of hard work and some crops in waiting for the balance to happen (and the natural eco-system to right itself).”
For Paul and Clare, patience is indeed a virtue – and a crucially important one.
“I’m learning that now as I’m getting into gardening out the front, planting flowers and noticing what survives and what doesn’t,” Clare said.
“I’ve never really been a green thumb, myself, but I get really excited about the things that Paul is growing and for me the weeds – the nettle and the dandelion – and the healing and medicinal properties of the different weeds that are allowed to grow because we’re not using any sprays or things like that.
“There’s a lot of goodness and a lot of nutrition when you look between the vegetables, too.”
For Paul and Clare, Thriving Foods truly is a family endeavour – with their parents also getting involved.
“We have friends who come and help us as well. It’s a very community-oriented, inclusive, and family-friendly atmosphere,” Clare said.
Paul and Clare are constantly talking with their customers – both receiving and providing feedback on their produce.
“We have people constantly coming back – especially for the eggs. People say they’ve never tasted anything like it,” Clare said.
“They’ll come back and just keep getting more and more. It’s the same with the veggies because they know that what they’re getting is quality and that it’ll last longer than, for example, something they buy in the supermarket.
“You don’t know when that stuff has been picked – it could have been picked a week ago or two weeks ago and kept in cold storage. You don’t know how it’s been treated either – all of that.”
The feedback Paul and Clare receive is particularly encouraging, and continues to spur them on.
“Paul often says to me at night time after a big market – after a big day – ‘just think, Clare, there are people out there eating our veggies right now. There are people out there serving these eggs to their kids right now’,” Clare said.
“It’s just such a humbling and heart-warming feeling.
“The best feeling in the world is going home and there’s no veggies left on the table whatsoever because we’ve totally sold out of everything. It’s very inspiring and encouraging.”
For more on Thriving Foods Farm, www.facebook.com/ThrivingFoodsFarm.
