About Fernleigh Organic Farms

You'll find us situated in the small township of Bullarto, about 10 minutes drive from the picturesque spa town of Daylesford and just over an hour's drive from Melbourne.

Championing the preservation of rare breeds of domestic farm livestock, Fernleigh Farm can be credited with helping keep alive endangered breeds such as the Wessex Saddleback pig, Shropshire sheep and Silver-Grey Dorking poultry - breeds on the verge of extinction.

Spanning 100 acres of beautiful Victorian countryside, Fernleigh Farm is also home to three dogs, three horses, two cats, an array of organic veggies and the Chambers family.

Part of the Daylesford-Macedon region, Bullarto is situated in the middle of the Wombat State Forest. Fernleigh Farm is 760 meters above sea level and benefits from the mineral packed, volcanic soil the area offers. Teamed with cooler temperatures than elsewhere in Victoria, and a reportedly higher rainfall (although with an ongoing drought we beg to differ), Fernleigh Farm is perfectly situated to grow delicious organic vegetables and rear rare breed sheep, pigs and an array of other assorted livestock for excellent free-range meat.

A healthy soil leads to healthy crops.

We're sure you've heard of organic by now, it's at your local farmers markets, in your local supermarkets and hopefully in your fridges, as more and more people are beginning to understand the benefits of produce grown naturally without the use of nasty chemicals.

But organic farming is much more than farming without chemicals and pesticides. It begins with caring for the soil and working with nature's systems. At Fernleigh Farm we have regular visits from agronomists (soil experts) and entomologists (insect experts) and a range of other specialist advisors. The entomologist sends us "good insects" that we can release into our fields to eat the "nasties". The agronomist takes soil samples and tests to check that the chemistry (nutrients), structure and microbes are all in balance. As Fernleigh farm has grown over the last 20 years, we've continued to learn a lot about our soil and our land from friends, colleagues and advisors, and of course from our own mistakes!

The key to organic farming is in having an open mind and being prepared to keep learning and problem solving as you work with nature's complex and dynamic systems.

It's hard work running an organic farm. With no synthetic pesticides or herbicides used at Fernleigh Farm, we have to rely on other strategies. For managing weeds, we use a mix of pre-emergent flame weeding, mechanical weeding and labour-intensive hand weeding. Weeding crops organically can cost up to $8,000 per hectare compared with just over $1000 for a chemical farm. That said, we wouldn't have it any other way. We're passionate about what we do and want to produce the best crops and free-range meat possible. Organic farming lets us do that, which is great for us, the environment and of course, for you too.

Farming in quality soil

As we said, healthy soil equals a healthy crop. We're lucky that the rich, volcanic soils at Fernleigh Farm are packed full of minerals all of which aid the growing of our crops and livestock. We nurture and feed our soil to ensure the best results for you. We disagree with the use of chemical fertilisers, so it's important to make sure our soil has nutrients replaced from other sources. At Fernleigh Farm we use green manure crops and paddock rotations using livestock to help build the nutrient levels in the soil and encourage a range of biological life.