Roxbury Farm example

Discussion in 'Members' Systems' started by Steve Burgess, Jan 6, 2013.

  1. Steve Burgess

    Steve Burgess Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2012
    Messages:
    49
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    6
    Not sure that this is the best place to post this -
    but this place https://www.roxburyfarm.com/crop-manual
    is an example of an innovative land management,food production, social and economic 'systems' approach to long-term (permanent?) agriculture that I find inspiring.

    What I like about this mob is they are quite explicit in setting out a very long term vision for their operations, and very good at documenting the intimate details of their land management, production, post harvest, marketing and distribution systems and sharing this knowledge to help other people develop their own systems which are economically efficient and environmentally sustainable. Their whole website is worth reading and thinking over, and I put this link to their crop production manual in this forum because I regard it as a good example of sharing practical systems information.

    My wife and I hold similar ideas for our the property that we live on. (Dagun, in the Mary Valley in sub-tropical SE Qld). After 19 years here we have a bit of a 'feel' for the place and local ecology, and know a little bit about what we can and can't grow well here. We have a bit of a feel for our local community and the local economic situation. What we are striving for now is to develop a system that fits into our local economy, and makes the actions of growing food and looking after biodiversity on this place a viable social and economic activity to hand on to someone else. Being the nature-nut hillbillies that live in the bush at the end of the road and grow some veggies is one step, but actively contributing to the local economy while doing so is the next step.

    We would love to have a system that we could honestly recommend to others, which would encourage people from one and two generations behind us to grow food, and explicitely care for the landscape as a respectable social role. Not as an indulgent hobby of the educated rich, or a desperate survival last choice occupation of a trapped poor - but a really viable alternative as a vocation. We don't have such a system, but are trying. As the header for this forum says -"talk is cheap", and when we have something that we feel is working I will post details (warning - it may be a decade away).

    My personal, simple goal is I would love to be able to employ people to work here, paying a fair wage and offering reliable, interesting, safe and healthy employment, with people learning the skills needed to be the next generation of food producers and land-carers while they are earning a fair wage. Many systems I see currently rely heavily on unpaid labour, woofers, poorly paid 'interns', cheap migrant labour or even charging people to work for you and calling it 'training'. This approach doesn't sit well with me, although I acknowledge that examples of my alternative expectation operating well on small-scale farms in Australia are pretty thin on the ground.

    In ten years time I would like to think we could have a system that wasn't dependant on us to operate, that could be easily handed on to someone else in good faith with a fair chance that it will keep operating, growing and improving. This is what they seem to have achieved at Roxbury Farm. I regard that as a test of whether we develop a true permaculture system on our place here.
     
  2. bluesapphire

    bluesapphire Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2011
    Messages:
    95
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    6
    Wow....the amount of work to set that up is mind boggeling. it would be fantastic to have such a resource nearby
    I hate living in or near a busy city but one disadvantage of remote living is isolation from permmie minded people, many of whom seem to be urban dwellers. If anyone sets up a CSA system that can include remote areas let me know.
    Cathy
     
  3. purplepear

    purplepear Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2009
    Messages:
    2,457
    Likes Received:
    12
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Occupation:
    Farm manager/ educator
    Location:
    Hunter Valley New South Wales
    Home Page:
    Climate:
    warm temperate - some frost - changing every year
    looks great Steve. 100 csa members is a good achievment - we currently have 25 at Purple Pear Farm and hope th build to fifty in the years to come. We are here if you would like to take a look at a smaller (more manageable?) model.
     
  4. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2011
    Messages:
    1,456
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    38
    That information is extreme. What a great resource.
     
  5. matto

    matto Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2009
    Messages:
    685
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    16
    These guys are awesome, pretty sure that the All Sun Farm crew have been modelled in part off these guys. The next best thing to Purple Pear :)
    Darren Aitken is doing dod things on five acres down in Victoria as well, all Demeter certified.

    Perhaps most inspiring is their intergenerational commitment!
     

Share This Page

-->