Your intrepid rural reporter ventured to Brooklet this month to Stuart and Tracey Knowland’s farm and nursery. Some may remember Stuart and Tracey as being active members of the Rosebank community, the pre-school and school. I am always reminded of them when visiting the Rosebank Store as Stuart made the wonderful timber counter that once stood there.

The Knowlands ventured out of Rosebank 4 years ago to realize their dream of creating a totally home based nursery and farm income. Their efforts are truly amazing when you hear that they moved onto their 34 acres with a house that was uninhabitable, bales covered in lantana and no fencing. However, they saw what many could not.

The farm met their criteria of being frost free, had abundant water and an irrigation license for their up and coming commercial nursery and three phase power. In the house, debris and dirty old white shag carpet greeted them and 1970's photographic insulation panels and no roof were a depressing sight. Now, dear reader, many would shy away at this challenge - but not this family. Stuart with his great carpentry skills and Tracey with her organisational and creative skills pressed on regardless. You would never believe that it was the same farm today.

Named Yungaburra this farm now boasts an extensive advanced tree nursery catering predominantly to the landscape and development industry. It's an outstanding example of sustainable commercial water recycling and every nursery bed has been laid with plastic and blue metal, catching the water which runs into wetlands and then a waterfall to the recycling dam. This would not have been possible without the diligence of Tracey and Stuart who were determined to apply and win a Community Water Grant from the Department of Heritage and Environment. The nursery has still a way to go but shows the signs of being very environmentally friendly and successful. The farm also came with 300 avocado trees. These trees range in age from 25 years old to 18 months, predominantly Wurtz and Hass varieties; they sit in this wonderful organic environment laden with avocados with thick ground covers to maintain moisture. They contribute to a nice income as well as giving the farm a very peaceful feel. Behind these huge trees two Angus steer look extremely content grazing happily, looking out on the magnificent view to Minyon Falls where on a clear day you can see the waterfall.

Stuart’s efforts to create an advanced tree nursery are now bearing fruit with a consistent income and increasing orders from capital cities. The trees are produced for the landscaping and development industry taking between 12-18 months to grow; 10 percent of their business is retail to provide a consistent income between these growing periods. Not daunted by this work, Tracey set up an EBay site selling lithographs and exclusive prints which keeps her even busier!

Stuart did the renovations to their homestead and was helped with the fencing by some Rivercare volunteers. A ball of energy, Stuart can now work from home and seems to be always traversing from the nursery to the farm. Recently Rivercare audited their farm and found 143 rare plant species and several mature red cedars hidden in their paradise down by the creek. It’s hard to describe the true energy levels that have gone into such an amazing change to this farm in such a short period. If you walk into their beautiful home now and look at the white beech and Queensland maple recycled from the property and used in their lovely modern kitchen, the effort is almost too much to fathom! Everywhere you look on this farm, activities are taking place to recycle or improve methods to make it sustainable and environmentally friendly.

To me this farm shows that you can work with the environment to produce not only your own piece of paradise but also a commercially viable enterprise, without having a 'bottomless pit of money'. If anything can be recycled it's used, and this is a great example of what can be done on a farm if you have the passion and drive. A true inspiration and great 'Friends of the Earth'.

See you next month.

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