Harmony on the farm
Jumping in the deep end brings success
IT has been like being thrown into the deep end, coming from Japan to Geeveston, but a couple is finding their way towards building a sustainable farm.
Dave Rolph and Cassandra Huang switched from being big-city citizens of the world into farmers four years ago when they bought a 10ha farm in the Huon Valley.
What was a neglected pasture with no road has been turned into a multipurpose food-producing enterprise.
“We moved on to the farm three years ago, lived in the shed while we built the house, and have been on a massive learning curve since,” Mr Rolph said.
“One of my brothers suggested the name Deep End Farm because we were clueless and out of our depth.
“We love living here on the farm. It’s a great lifestyle, we feed the animals, do harvesting, make the food and have great friends in the valley.”
While Mr Rolph grew up in Launceston, Ms Huang was brought up in Taiwan.
“I was backpacking and needed work, I went to Taiwan and met Cassandra and stayed longer than I had planned,” Mr Rolph said.
Since then the couple have lived in Singapore, in the US states of Colorado and California as well as Tokyo, all thanks to the company Mr Rolph worked for, Toshiba, which made medical equipment.
“We’re foodies. We want to design a system on our property that produces the best ingredients and prepare the best food from it,” he said.
“We are aiming for a thriving diverse ecosystem. We want our property to have many successfully established plants and animals living in harmony. Our day to day activities are all about improving the system. And to grow really good food.”
He said in general they used the principles of permaculture to design a system where they, the animals and plants were in harmony to be more productive.
“We’re making the property where things fit together, work together and enhance each other by design. We have lots of successes and failures.”
The couple run cattle, goats and pigs. The milk goats, of British Alpine breed, chickens, geese and ducks have been enlisted to help to manage what they call an “explosion of grass”, although the goats specialise in blackberry control.
The farm also has a small population of quail, for which they are yet to design a dish around.
The heavily pregnant Wessex saddleback sow, named Gentle by Ms Huang, is curi- ous and loves a pat and cuddle.
Mr Rolph said they had had 20 pigs on the farm during summer and all their pork went into the food they make and sell at Hobart farmers’ markets.
Ms Huang makes the food — with bao zi, a Taiwanese steamed bun, their signature dish.
“Food from your own farm product always tastes so much better. We are encouraging other people to grow their own and turn what they grow into food,” she said.
The couple has developed a mobile van to sell the food at markets. The beef and pork plus many of the seasonal ingredients for the food is grown on the farm and elsewhere in the Huon Valley. They also make gua bao, a contemporary take on bao zi.
“We like this dish because it’s a great showcase for our ingredients,” Ms Huang said.
They also make a Taiwanese crepe and a Japanese-style rice bowl.
“The future of small producers will be a lot more like what we do, growing ingredients and turning that into food.
“When you grow your own food you have more than you can eat, so what to do with the leftovers?
“We started going to market for fun to use the leftover food, but now it’s a valueadded business providing ready-to-eat food using ingredients grown on the farm.”