Tara Luca - Olive Gap Organic Farm
Who are you ? Where and what do you farm ?
I’m Tara from Olive Gap Organic Farm. We are a new certified organic farm in the Northern Rivers of NSW, specialising in seasonal cut flowers and native essential oils. Our family team consists of 3 girls and 1 guy, all in our 30’s.
How did you start your farming journey / what led you to it?
Our journey began with my husband Alex and I homesteading on a community in our 20’s, born from a deep desire to grow our own food and live sustainably while we raised our three little girls. The growing bug bit and as our children grew and we started homeschooling, we wanted to spend more and more time in the garden. So we began to think of ways we could turn this into a job that we could integrate into our lifestyle.
Around this time a certified organic tea tree farm down the road came up for sale and Alex and his sister Tess decided to try and buy it. It was a crazy idea at the time as money was very tight, but somehow it all flowed and suddenly we had not only a large productive permaculture garden around our house, but a 120acre ACO certified farm down the road.
Is it what you expected ?
Our original thoughts were to start market gardening down there and not do much with the tea tree but old guy we bought it from, Arthur, stayed on the farm and mentored us for the first year. He taught us the traditional methods of wood fired steam distillation and how he managed the farm in a minimal hands off way. The more we learned about farming to make essential oils, the more it excited us, especially the old school approach and that it was completely off grid and only used resources from the farm. Around this time I went and studied organic farming at TAFE to learn more about different native crops that we could distill and sell alongside our Tea Tree. Whilst there, I became a bit side tracked and became completely obsessed with flowers and eco floristry, so slowly but surely our home garden expanded and I began planting flower and foliage crops both at home and on the farm. We got our home garden (now flower/veggie plot) certified as an offical part of Olive Gap Organic Farm just this year and the 1/4 acre block has started producing enough flowers to sell to local florists, cafes, markets and i’m now offering a floral design service for people looking for a unique environmentally friendly approach to sourcing and designing their wedding flowers.
So basically, it isn’t what we expected, but it’s been really exciting to see where our desire to create a ethical home business has taken us.
Biggest learning curve so far ?
The biggest learning curve so far has been planning. So much ahead planning is needed when wanting to produce a colourful succession of fresh seasonal flowers in a small space and it all needs to flow with our activities on the farm and our harvest and planting times. It’s a big juggle and it’s always changing due to environmental and family factors, so I’m finding we are starting to become much more practical and realistic with time and realising how much time is saved by good planning and design.
Who / what / why inspired you to get farming?
Alex and Tess both grew up on the community where we still live and so have been veggie growers most of their lives. We moved to the snowy mountains for a few years when we were first married so Alex could take up a teaching position while we saved for some land. We were in Batlow and were surrounded by apple farmers. I think Alex quickly learnt that he much preferred to be outside, working with the old farmers than inside teaching. My love of growing built slowly and came from a desire to make things beautiful around me and a channel for my creative energy whilst being focused on raising my family and creating a home. It was and still continues to feel more like self care than actual work (although trust me, there is plenty of work!).
What is your biggest milestone so far ?
Our biggest milestone is happening right now. We are launching our brand and beginning to sell our tea tree in small retail bottles. Up until now we have been selling in bulk to essential oil companies. It’s been in very high demand and we think we have a great product. We are getting ready to launch our website and will have it hitting stores in the next few months.
What is the dream ?
The dream is to start planting more diverse Australian native crops and to be able to offer a range of traditional wood fired, steam distilled essential oils and for me to focus more on bridal flowers and creative outlets for my love of floristry, using only the flowers that we grow. I’d love to start growing more Australian native flowers too. But I’ll never give up roses!