HOME GROWN

Tony Scherer has devoted his life to organic farming, but he never expected to be recognised for his work.

“It was the biggest shock of my life to be named [2018] Senior Tasmanian of the Year,” says Scherer, who is shown dressed for the occasion outside Government House in Hobart last month.

“It’s really wonderful. Anytime you get exposure is probably a good thing. Hopefully what will happen is people will take more notice of what they’re eating.”

Scherer moved to Australia from California in 1990, and has been promoting sustainable farming methods for more than 50 years – as a founding owner of Frogmore Creek Wines and through his work with not-for-profit organisation Sprout Tasmania, which he co-founded five years ago to help small producers.

He sells organically farmed produce grown on his 2ha farm at Penna to Hobart restaurants, and to Hill Street Grocer.

“We grow a lot of garlic and whatever chefs want. We grow radish, turnips, eggplants, beetroot, pumpkins and melons. We’re driven by demand,” he says. “I’ve always grown organically and that’s mainly now what chefs at good restaurants want.”

Scherer says he would like to see more small-scale farms established in Tasmania.

“We get an awful lot of our fruit and veg from the mainland,” he says.

“If we had another 500 [Tasmanian] growers, it still wouldn’t be enough.”