From Margaret
Melbourne, Australia
Aussie Homestead and Tree Planting
Chatham Hill Farm – Ross and Sarah Thomson
A bit more than 90 minutes out of Melbourne and just past the small town of Kilmore lies Ross and Sarah Thomson's family farm. The drive out through the browns of Australian summer was beautiful and reminds me of central California in high summer. We were greeted warmly by the Thomson's and served a welcome morning tea. The lovely blueberry muffins were made by Sarah and were as good tasting as they looked. Tea was held under a huge maple tree in the Thomson's side yard. The house is surrounded by flower beds full of color and plant texture. In the back is a huge vegetable garden which we benefited from at lunch.
After a brief wander through the flowers, we went across a small lawn to a eucalyptus grove which was planted specifically to capture nutrients washed off the hills by the winter rains. It has also become a place for picnics and other social events, including their daughter's wedding. Off to one side of this grove is a very old eucalyptus – perhaps as much as 500 years old. It is huge.
From there we re-boarded the bus to go to the olive orchard. The Thomson's have planted 2500 olive trees to serve as an additional income stream, thus further diversifying the farm's productivity. When they decided to go into olive oil production, they chose 3 varieties that were well-adapted to the Australian climate and had distinctive flavors. The oil from each variety is bottled and sold as a unique varietal oil. These Chatham Hill virgin olive oils are now sought after by the high end chefs in Melbourne.
From the olive orchard, we went to the sheep barn for a demonstration of sheep herding and shearing. The Thomson's use the Australian Kelpie for their herd dogs. Kelpies are not recognized in the US as a breed but are elsewhere in the world. The one displaying her skills for us was a black and tan and smaller than the typical border collie. The Thomson's son, Hugh, commented that she could run 25 km over the course of a day of "minding" sheep. In the Australian summer heat this is astounding.
The shearing demonstration was quite informative as Hugh explained exactly what was happening and how different parts of the animal yielded different types and quality of wool. The particular sheep being shorn for our benefit didn't seem to mind in the least. Hugh told us that as long as the sheep's head in held up, it will stay quiet. If the head drops toward the ground, the sheep will try to stand up. Once the fleece was off the sheep, Hugh walked us through the grading process. I think I would have to be around wool a long time before I could recognize all of the aspects he was pointing out. None of the shorn wool is wasted. Parts of it may go into a dozen or more catagories. Hugh said that during shearing time, they have 20 different bins into which they can put the various grades of wool and wool bits.
Just before lunch we sampled the olive oils they have been making as well as the black olives that Sarah had cured. They were all superb. Lunch was a meal to die for. Sarah had made all of it herself and many of the ingredients came from her garden. Bar-b-qued chicken, quiche, several kinds of salad. Dessert was her own pastries – the lemon shortbread was lethal! I could have eaten a whole pan of it.
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After lunch and good conversation, we drove around the farm looking at their tree plantings. All of this part of Australia was forested when the Europeans arrived. After a 100 years or so of tree cutting, there is nothing left to prevent the soil from eroding away. They showed us an example of a 10 or 12 foot deep gully cut by the winter water run-off. Seing this kind of damage to the land one can understand why the Thomson's are passionate about the need to restore the forests, rebuild the soil, and farm in an environmentally responsible way.
This is the most interesting expedition I have taken so far. I really liked the and admire what they are doing.
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