Melody and Jamie Flood of Ten Acres in Ninderry make some of the best hot cross buns in Queensland.
AFTER BAKING HUNDREDS OF HOT CROSS BUNS FOR THEIR MARKET STALLS, JAMIE AND MELODY FLOOD PLAN A PEACEFUL EASTER AT TEN ACRES FARM.
AUTUMN AT TEN ACRES FARM near Ninderry, in the hinterland of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, brings delicate citrus blossoms and the anticipation of an abundant orchard. But at 5am the sun is yet to appear, as Melody Flood packs her van with freshly baked goods in the crisp morning air. The heady scent of cinnamon and baked fruit lingers outside their home bakery, where her husband Jamie — a former fitter and turner — has been busy mixing, kneading and baking overnight. As Jamie brushes the flour from his hands, and heads to the house for a few hours’ sleep before the kids wake up, it’s Melody’s job to deliver the precious cargo to marketgoers eagerly awaiting their annual fix of hot cross buns. “Easter is definitely our busiest time of year,” Melody says. “Last year we sold 800 hot cross buns between two market stalls over the long weekend.” Melody and Jamie set up their organic sourdough bakery Ten Acres in April 2017, with this year marking its third Easter in business. The couple live on the four-hectare farm with daughters Lucca, 11, and Mei, nine, and their six-year-old son Harvey, along with much-loved rescue animals Boo, an 11-year-old staffy cross, and one-year-old cat, Smokey. “The kids are always outside, riding their bikes and playing with the chickens,” says Melody. “It’s great for them to have the space, they love it here.” Already long-time locals, they had been looking for the ideal place to start an artisan bakery when Ten Acres came onto the market in mid-2014. “We were just down the road and had been keeping an eye out for a flat, usable piece of land for a few years,” Melody, 40, explains. “When this came up, we pounced on it because it’s so rare to find around this area.” Except for an established citrus orchard, the land was clear when they arrived. “I’ve always had this dreamy idea of having an orchard,” Melody says. “The farming side of things was my passion, while Jamie’s is working in the bakery.” In fact, Melody says having different skills to Jamie, 42, means they complement each other rather than clash. “We find it quite easy having a business together… We have a lot of fun and making decisions comes easily.” >
The couple constructed a shed — with a bedroom, loft, bathroom, kitchen and living area — for the family to live in while they built a permanent home on site. “We’d planned to stay for six months but things got a little busy and we ended up in the shed for four years,” says Melody, who gratefully moved the family into their new four-bedroom, two-bathroom straw-bale home in March. The shed also houses the bakery that contains a stone deck bread oven and smaller pastry oven. It’s here that Jamie transforms certified chemical-free Australian flour, plus rainwater harvested and filtered on the farm, into the sourdough and pastries that have garnered a loyal following. “I think it’s because people are appreciating slow food that is environmentally responsible,” Melody says. “Using ingredients that fit this criteria is key to who we are and what we set out to do, so it was essential to find the right growers and suppliers to work with.” Ten Acres also produces organic garlic — predominantly an Italian pink variety. It’s a slow-growing crop that works with the ebb and flow of the farm. “We plant in February and harvest in September. The fruit comes on in May and goes through to August, so by the time the citrus is finished, the garlic is ready to be harvested. Luckily neither of these key times are near Easter!” The navel orange and imperial mandarin trees in Melody’s much-loved orchard are also proving invaluable to the bakery business. When the fruit is ready, a local chef makes marmalade from them. Last year the conserves won two gold medals at the Australian Food Awards and they’ve become the perfect accompaniment to sell alongside the sourdough. Between their market stalls — Eumundi Markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Kawana Waters Farmers Market on Saturdays — and a handful of local outlets, the Floods sell about 600 loaves of sourdough a week. But come Easter Sunday, the ovens are turned off and the farm provides an idyllic spot for the family to enjoy lunch, with the kids looking forward to an annual chocolate egg hunt around the gardens and vegetable patch. “Because Easter is always on a Sunday, we know that we’ll have a really big Saturday and then we can just sit back and relax,” says Melody. “It feels like the finish line.” For more information, visit tenacres.com.au