Host Profile
My Property
Business Type
Farming methods
Short Property Description
Mixed farm/market garden on 6 hectares of fertile soil on the edge of the Cambooya valley, just 17kms south of Toowoomba, Darling Downs, south east Queensland. We’re a simple mom and pop operation, still building up from our modest beginnings as a bare paddock just 16 years back. Anton qualified through agricultural college in his homeland of the Netherlands and moved here at 21. Nicola taught school on and off for 33 years both here and in her native New Zealand. Our farm had its gestation in the cut flower growing business, but when we got together in our 40s, it became apparent that growing chemical sensitivities and growing awareness of ecological issues required a re-think as we went forward. We decided the whole smallholding should be organic and that we should not put all our eggs in one basket. Are you spotting the puns yet? In short, we have, thus far, developed 3 arms to the farm – vegetables, garlic and eggs. Flowers will undoubtedly return at some stage. Actually, to update this we must add that we went out of egg production nearly two years ago as Nicola reached retirement age and felt disinclined to continue this part of farming.
Organic/Biological methods we use
Whilst not certified as organic farmers you’ll see our level of committment to the sustainable ethos in everything we do here, both privately and commercially. You’ll be fed heartily on organic food and encouraged to become even more environmentally aware than you probably already are. Anton makes huge windrows of compost, using local straw, chicken poo and spent mushroom compost…by the big truck load. He turns it with the bucket of our John Deere tractor. This is what he plants our vegie seedlings directly into, thus building beautiful rich-in-humus soil. He also adds organic chook poo pellets, then nets it all. We have a couple of greenhouses for our Mediterranean vegies and they have exclusion netting on the doors and walls. We employ the labour of ‘bugs for bugs’ to eat any spider mite incursions etc..Lady bugs are welcome to breed up too.
My Details
The Stay
Can Accommodate
Preferred length of Stay
Longer stays by negotiation, Whatever suits, 2-4 weeks
Accommodation
Other options
Non-Smoking, No Pets please, No Children
Meal Procedures
Eat separately, Share some meals, Food provided, cook your own
Languages spoken
Diets we cater for
Fish based meals, Meat based meals, BYO Special diet foods please, Vegetarian meals
Work and Study Remotely here
Work and Study Remotely here by arrangement
Why I became a WWOOF Host
It has always been our plan and hope to share this journey with others who enjoy nature, wholesome food and learning new and gentle ways to walk on this beautiful planet. Anton is outgoing and friendly, being generous with his life’s experience in farming. He loves and values his relationships with our customers and so enjoys his two weekend markets in Carseldine and Mt Gravatt. We both share an interest and intention to encourage younger wwoofers to become organic food producers of the self employed variety. Hopefully our wwoofers will see what a happy and rewarding life we have built here and come to see how it will be possible for them too.
We have completed built in a section of our rural shed into a very comfortable and attractive WWOOFers’ quarters. The languages we speak are English and Dutch respectively. You’ll all enjoy Anton’s talents on musical instruments, the finest of which, I think , being his voice and his guitar playing.
I like to express my fondness for visiting helpers with food, humour and lots of appreciation/respect. Our farm is burgeoning into its next stage of development and with some more regular help , will eventually, we trust, become a welcoming and flourishing place for us all.
