Peppermint Ridge Farm is a shining example that a more sustainable agricultural future is possible now. Run by two visionaries, Julie Weatherhead and Anthony Hooper, their philosophy is restoring lost habitats and delivering business success in synch with the environment. Excitingly, they’re happy to share their wisdom with anyone who wants to build a brighter future too.
Just over an hour from Melbourne, Peppermint Ridge Farm is at Tynong North in West Gippsland. The winding road towards the farm is littered with signs of a colonial history and logging legacy. Then you get to the property, and it feels like you’ve entered another realm. One that’s a far cry from the character of a conventional farm.
Julie grew up on the farm that dates to the 1890s when it produced high-quality peppermint eucalyptus oil before being run as a grazing property for beef cattle.
When an opportunity came up to acquire a portion of the farm from her family in 1983, Julie and Anthony grabbed it.
“As a qualified ecologist, the farm gave me a chance to bring together my professional expertise and passions that include native plants, native foods and sustainable land management,” she said.
“We wanted to live off the land in the way that gave us a living and worked in harmony with nature.
“So, we fenced off remnant bushland and waterways and started planting native trees to create habitats on the farm that connect to larger habitat areas that animals need to survive.”
Anthony also grew up in the local area and says they played a key role in establishing the Western Port Catchment Landcare Network to encourage others to practice sustainable farming.
“When you compare aerial photos from years ago to what the land looks like today, you can see more trees and a bigger network of green links across the region,” he says.
Anthony said they’ve run several enterprises on the property, including a free-range egg farm and an environmental education business, with polyculture underpinning their success.
“Polyculture is a farming method that involves multiple agricultural and horticultural activities as opposed to monoculture where one crop is grown at a time over an entire area,” he said.
“Polyculture encourages biodiversity. By selecting native plants endemic to the local area that complement each other we can enrich the soils, encourage beneficial bugs that control pests, and produce food and fibre that gives us a living.”
The polyculture developed on the farm includes bush food plantations, sheep, a eucalypt plantation for oil, chooks, a large vegetable garden and orchard, and agroforestry plantations.
Peppermint Ridge Farm also harvests all its own water and has a storage capacity of 160,000 litres that’s used for all its operations. They’ve also built a fully enclosed, dry composting toilet that requires no water and waste won’t leach into local waterways.
Julie said she loves seeing wildlife that now calls the place home thanks to their hard work.
“I never saw blue-banded bees when I was a child but they’re here now, along with goannas, echidnas, bower birds, lizards and a nice mob of kangaroos,” she said.
Today, the business focuses on showcasing Australia’s unique native foods for their incredible culinary and health properties.
“We have extensive plantations, a nursery that supplies native plants to a whole range of people, including schools, and run a café where I also lead workshops to show people how to cook with native foods,” she said.
Julie and Anthony’s enthusiasm is infectious and smelling the incredible aromas that come from their native plants it’s not hard to see why.
“The first time I smelt lemon myrtle I was in love. So, I started researching native foods and discovered a treasure trove that I wanted to share with other people,” she said.
“I decided to develop simple recipes and open a café so I could show people how easy it is to cook with native foods and how great they taste. I really enjoy giving people the confidence to give them a go.”
Julie and Anthony both have teaching backgrounds and education is a big part of what they do. As well as running school trips around the farm and they go into several local pre-school, primary and secondary schools to promote bushfoods.
“We help schools establish native food gardens and also run sessions with students on growing and managing a native garden,” she said.
“Native foods are high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and they’re great for gut health, so we help young people understand these benefits.”
Julie was recently awarded Female Agribusiness Leader of the Year by Food and Fibre Gippsland for her innovative and sustainable approach to farming.
She says she is humbled by the recognition and excited by the opportunity it offers to highlight her and Anthony’s work.
“West Gippsland is a bit of a forgotten region and I’m hoping this award helps shine a light on the good things happening in this part of Victoria,” she said.
Peppermint Ridge Farm run regular native food experiences and we’d encourage you to take your taste buds on a tour tout de suite.