Food with a future

“Welcome to the home of TYIRRIMA Farm”…

Hello!  Thanks for visiting us at "Tyirrima", Ravensbourne, South-east Queensland.  We purchased this 110 acre property in 1999, and have worked to enhance its existing values as a wildlife habitat, but also utilised the existing cleared areas to build a house and sheds, and most importantly, grow our food crops.  Poised on the edge of the Great Dividing Range, "Tyirrima" sits between the quite humid climate of coastal South-east Queensland and the drier Darling Downs/Granite Belt area with its much cooler winters. As a result of living in this 'ecotone' in terms of soil/vegetation, as well as climate, we have the best of both worlds… and so are able to grow a wide range of plants from the sub-tropical and temperate zones.  Our main commercial crop is garlic.

Recently we’ve adopted Biodynamic principles of farming/gardening… ‘the ultimate method of organic production’.  Biodynamics allows the farmer to build up the soil health, and therefore plant health/productivity, in a way that works with the forces and cycles of nature and minimises the need for external inputs.  After achieving a high degree of self-sufficiency in the range of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and grains that we produce, Biodynamics is therefore the next logical step in ‘closing the loop’.

At “Tyirrima” our aim is to be a model for the“Food with a Future” concept…

v Produce the majority of our own food and trade the excess locally, to:-

Ø help build up a local community that is resilient to food shortages from outside influences, such as natural disasters, transport strikes, fuel shortages and economic crises;

Ø reduce food miles i.e environmental impacts;

Ø ensure fresher and therefore more nutritious food is available to our family and community.

v Produce food in the most sustainable way possible i.e. Biodynamically with the incorporation of Permaculture principles and Biochar, to:-

Ø Improve the nutritional value of food;

Ø Eliminate the detrimental effects of synthetic chemicals on the soil and the environment in general;

Ø Avoid toxic chemical residues in food;

Ø Avoid GMO’s;

Ø Reduce the dependence on external inputs for plant nutrition;

Ø Preserve and extend natural habitat within the production system to support flora and fauna biodiversity.

v Grow a diverse range of food crops, from open-pollinated seeds, to:-

Ø Preserve heirloom varieties and genetic diversity;

Ø Increase resilience to extremes of climate and pests/diseases;

Ø Maximise nutritional potential.