Activities on the farm the last couple of months have been busy with two main activities – sowing a winter seed mix, and spraying lantana whilst it is flowering.

Bare soil is the antithesis of regenerative farming. The sun beats down onto bare soil, drying it out, heating it up, and generally messing up soil microbiome processes. Rain also impacts the surface in a way that doesn’t occur on covered soil, and soil erosion is more likely to occur. Weeds take hold. The lack of living plants also means the soil microbiome isn’t being fed.

Anyone who has done biology would know about photosynthesis; it is via photosynthesis that plants produce energy to live and grow from light, CO2 and water.

Why is a city dwelling engineer and his family buying a farm?

Family and close friends will know that whilst I grew up in the suburbs, I was around the age of 5 when my parents purchased a farm that the family would travel to on weekends and holidays. We spent many days traipsing over the acres chasing cattle, pushing through lantana, dragging poly pipe up creeks, and swimming in some pretty nice waterholes!