‘Eat local, eat seasonal, eat well!’ by Ashley and Danielle Wren

Introducing Ashley and Danielle Wren of Greendoor Garlic located 8kms northeast of popular foodie town Kyneton in the Macedon Ranges, Victoria. Their story is number 48 in my quest to feature a farmer a week as my way of celebrating the Australian Year of the Farmer.

Our family and farming enterprise

Greendoor garlic began one sunny autumn’s day 6 years ago (est. 2006) when my greenthumb gardener husband Ashley planted his first organic garlic seed, which an old family friend who had been growing natural garlic for more than 30 years gave to him.

Each year since then Ashley’s naturally-grown chemical-free garlic harvest has continued to expand into the glorious, pack-a-punch, healthy garlic bulbs he proudly grows today.

Greendoor garlic is grown in the rich soils that surround provincial foodie town Kyneton and supplies home cooks and professional chefs throughout Australia.

We are very proud Finalists in the 2012 delicious. Produce Awards (our first-ever year we entered)!

Greendoor garlic

The best lifestyle factor that we enjoy as a farming family

Waking up each day to fresh country air and beautiful views of nature at sunrise is right up there along with spending time in the garden – a great excuse to be in the great outdoors and get some exercise naturally.

Ashley Wren planting garlic

Our biggest short-term farming challenges

Our biggest short-term farming challenge is the vagaries of seasonality – too little rain and too much sunshine or too harsh frosts and too little sunshine – these are the usual farming challenges presented by weather and they impact significantly on our crop output. However, our philosophy is to produce what Mother Nature chooses to provide naturally – so I suppose our biggest challenge really concerns our own mind frame and learning to be content to meet demand with only what Mother Nature chooses to supply.

Garlic thriving in the garden at Greendoor garlic

Our biggest long-term farming challenges

We agree with Sidonia Hills Natural Beef; our greatest farming challenges come from “human attitudes to food – the humungous disconnection between food production and consumption. The challenge is how to change people’s mind frames, behaviours and industry and get our nation to eat local, eat seasonal, eat natural, eat less and eat healthy. Adopting quality before quantity beliefs and behaviours will reduce some of the stress on our environment and the ill state of our collective health.”

Importing garlic out of season and selling an inferior (potentially unhealthy product) is ludicrous. If consumers can learn about seasonality and best storage practices for various foods then Australia can move along the path towards better farming business models and healthier living.

Greendoor garlic bulbs

Our wish to be understood. Our message for Collins Street billboard

We too support Brigadoon Harvest’s universally-appropriate message: “Nutrition before yield; People before profit” – and, like Sidonia Hills Natural Beef, we would “happily adopt this and make it the national farming and consumer ethos for all!”

Our personal billboard message would be:

“Eat local, eat seasonal, eat well!”