Down on the farm: meet the menagerie
VICTORIA’S MACEDON RANGES PROVIDE THE BACKDROP FOR A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER WHO TOIL SIDE BY SIDE AT HOLLYBURTON FARM.
IT’S DAWN AT HOLLYBURTON FARM in the Macedon Ranges, and Colita Scott has had her usual head start on the day. “I’m a morning person,” she says. “I love the light at this time of day.” After firing up her mind and body with some yoga, she’s tackled some paperwork, and is now heading out to feed the pigs who roam freely around the paddocks.
She’s not the only one up and about. Elsewhere on the property, Colita’s eldest daughter, Madelaine, is busy harvesting vegetables to restock the farm gate stall with the help of her own two girls, Lorien, four, and Thora, two. “The stall is full at the moment – it’s the best time of year to visit,” says the 26-year-old. “We’ve got tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, capsicum, apples, rhubarb, quinces …” The list goes on, including jams, chutney and homemade soap.
Just outside the village of Riddells Creek, 46km north-west of Melbourne, in Bolinda, Hollyburton has been home to the Scotts since Colita and her ex-husband, Rob, bought it 27 years ago. Neither came from a farming background. “I always knew I didn’t want to be a city person,” says Colita, who grew up in Sydney, escaping as often as she could to go camping in the bush. “When I was five, I told my parents I was going to live on a big farm and have lots of kids. They laughed at me, but I think that made me even more determined.”
Fast forward a couple of decades, and that childhood dream was about to become a reality. “As soon as I saw this place I knew it was where I wanted to raise my family,” she recalls. Lounging in its own valley, the farm encompassed a lake covering 1.2 hectares, mature trees, an established garden and a long, meandering driveway. It was everything she’d imagined, and more.
They started by farming ostriches, pivoting when the industry crashed in the late ’90s to refocus on pigs, cattle and sheep. “We realised it was important to diversify,” says Colita. “With 178 hectares, you really have to.”
Madelaine agrees. “I remember some pretty bad droughts when I was little, but since then we’ve adapted to the climate. On a traditional farm, you might produce one thing, like milk or beef. We produce all the things.”
It’s only a slight exaggeration. They currently raise organic beef, lamb, chicken and eggs, as well as free-range pork. There are natural unbleached doonas and wadding for quilting, using wool from their fluffy White Suffolk sheep. Meanwhile, they also breed adorable mini pigs for pets.
“It means that if we have a bad rainfall one year, we’ve still got other businesses that can thrive,” says Madelaine, though she admits it’s no easy feat. “Instead of focusing on one particular thing, you’re bending yourself around all these different products. You’re constantly juggling, which is tricky – but it works, and we love it.”
Eggs have been Madelaine’s main focus since she was eight years old. She and her siblings, Hailey, 23, and >
“When I was five, I told my parents I was going to live on a big farm and have lots of kids. They laughed at me, but I think that made me even more determined.”
“I really did see myself growing old here, and my grandchildren growing up here.”
Arthur, 19, were all homeschooled by their parents, who were keen for them to learn as much from real life as from books. “They thought if I had chickens, I’d be counting eggs and keeping records, writing out invoices, and then going to farmers’ markets, communicating with customers to sell my product.”
And she did. Having started in 2002 with 20 chickens, today she has 5000 busy hens – plus 1000 chicks which are due to start laying in August – supplying to more than 50 health food shops, grocers, butchers and restaurants around Melbourne and Daylesford, as well as her own stall. Certified organic by NASAA, the chickens wander as they please, hunkering down in hand-built ‘chook-mobiles’ when they feel like it. “They’re tiny houses on wheels, which we move every two days,” Madelaine explains. “It means they’ve always got new grass to eat, and their poo falls through the mesh bottom to fertilise the ground, as well as storing carbon in our soil.”
This deep respect for animals and the environment runs in the family, with Colita embracing regenerative agriculture many years ago. Madelaine is just as committed and, having won a scholarship to this year’s Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program, hopes to encourage others. “Farmers are hermits – we stay on our land. I’m a great example of that!” she laughs. “With this program, I’d like to build contacts and develop a voice for making some change in our local community that will hopefully benefit our environment long-term.”
Colita is understandably proud. “Madelaine is such a strong, amazing woman. We all hope our children will grow up to be better than we are, and I definitely feel like my kids are. They’re all amazing.”
The admiration goes both ways. “Mum is a complete legend,” says Madelaine. “I had the best childhood, climbing trees, picking blackberries and raising baby animals, and my girls are so lucky that they can cuddle with their grandma every day, reading books together and milking goats. It’s awesome to follow in her footsteps. She made such an effort to teach me how to be a successful businesswoman and a fun and inspirational mother.”
In a perfect world, they’d simply carry on enjoying their little slice of paradise, but life has a habit of throwing curve balls, and in March Colita discovered they would need to leave Hollyburton Farm by September. “It’s one of the toughest things I’ve had to deal with. I really did see myself growing old here, and my grandchildren growing up here.”
She’s currently on the lookout for another property somewhere nearby, to accommodate their various enterprises. The next chapter is about to begin, but for now all are welcome at Colita and Madelaine’s roadside farm stall.
Hollyburton Farm, 1677 Melbourne-lancefield Rd, Bolinda, Vic, (03) 5428 5332, 0427 384 950, hollyburton.com.au. Madelaine’s Eggs, 0487 260 620, madelaineseggs.com.au