A Bungonia property has been transformed from a "barren and hard piece of ground" into a mini food bowl and natural wonderland, thanks to a couple's efforts.
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Members of the community are invited to the Alternative Life Farm's "restoration relaunch" on Saturday, February 18 to see the results of a decade-long project.
Education facilitator, Debbie Hunt said the farm had been closed for three years but was once again offering a wide array of public tours, educational workshops and private events.
Ms Hunt said conditions for growing fruit and vegetables were considered marginal at best.
"The soil is poor, heavy clay, the heat in summer can be extreme, the rainfall is low and it gets considerably cold in winter with temperatures well below freezing," she said.
"We didn't pick an easy place to grow food, in some ways to highlight that if we could grow food here, we could show how, when designed using resilience in mind, small-scale food production systems, can be successful even in the toughest of conditions."
She said use of a wide range of organic and sustainable land management techniques to improve soils, increase biodiversity and regenerate parts of farm for the benefit of local birds, plants and animals as well as to grow food, had been hugely successful.
Staff undertake considerable research into best practice native habitat restoration and employ these across the farm. Research is also undertaken into the current and future growing conditions of numerous food plant species and work is done to create the specific environments required for each species.
"As a result, there is a wide array of growing systems on display at the farm including undercover vegetable gardens, open food gardens, an off-grid aquaponics system, orchards, natural water filtration systems and much more," Ms Hunt said.
Today, the farm produces an abundance of fruits, nuts, vegetables and herbs that are sold directly to customers and through local outlets. The farm is also home to several threatened birds and plant species.
Ms Hunt said moving from suburbia to an off-grid farm with four teenagers came with many challenges. But each one was met with determination to be more resilient to future events and work which ensured the farm could produce food in a sustainable way, even the most extreme conditions.
"Having started completely from scratch, planting the first food trees in 2012, experiencing firsthand the transformation that has occurred across the landscape of the farm has been nothing short of inspirational and it is fabulous that we are going to be able to share our this experience with the public again," farm manager, Kieron Malone said.
Today the farm is a social enterprise dedicated to ensuring the knowledge to grow your own food is accessible to everyone.
The property is located at 122 Blakes Blvd, Bungonia. Tickets for the restoration relaunch are available from: https://www.analternativelife.org/product/seasonal-farm-tours-saturdayfebruary-18th/
For more information, phone 4844 7174.
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