About ten years ago, when the retired pair decided to move from Sydney to start a small business, an agricultural tree change was on top of the list. 

The two were raised in regional areas and were not unfamiliar with working on the land. Goulburn’s proximity to Canberra and Sydney, in addition to the cold weather, was a major drawcard.

It started off with vegetables but quickly shifted to berries. 

“I’ve always liked berries,” Mrs Anderson said. 

Over the past ten years Parkesbourne Produce has tapped into a niche market. They aim to grow types of berries and fruits that can’t simply be found in a supermarket aisle.

In August, they took out gold at the national 2017 Delicious Produce Awards for their alpine strawberries. 

“It’s important to realise it is not all useless pieces of land where people are hobby farming and just running horses and alpacas. People can make small areas extremely productive,” Mrs Anderson said.

Besides berries, there is grafted apples, wasabi, lavender, truffles and plums. Parkesbourne Produce supplies to higher end restaurants such as Sepia in Sydney, and smaller spaces in Yass and Canberra. 

Mrs Anderson jokes that some patches are simply experiments, filled with plants she is waiting to discover.

“There is room for everybody in agriculture,” she said.

“It’s important if we want to feed our ever growing population. And it’s not just that, it’s the quality of food. There’s a huge amount of diverse products we can produce.”