Ballan, Bolwarrah and broccoli

By Lachlan Ellis

Commonly known as ‘spud country’, it is now turning green with a Ballan agronomist putting his theory into practice, after buying a property in Bolwarrah to grow potatoes and greens with a focus on sustainability.

Stuart Grigg purchased 160 acres of land in Bolwarrah with wife Kate last March, and though the area is certainly known for farming, Mr Grigg has a unique take on it.

“We’re challenging the norm, we want to bring a lot of employment to the area. This is a fairly manual crop, so we’ve got 6, 7, 8 people harvesting this crop, two to four days a week. We harvest over a 13-week period as well,” he told the Moorabool News.

“One of my focuses is around sustainability, and being able to produce a crop in an environmentally sustainable way. We use a lot of what’s called integrated pest management practice, where we try to look after beneficial insects to take care of pests, and minimise our interaction with pests, and our impact on the soil.”

Having grown up around farms – Ballan is “the most urban place I’ve lived”, Mr Grigg says – returning to his roots has been something of a dream.

“We’d been looking for a property north of the highway, close to the bush, something that was usable in terms of the acreage as well. Something we could turn into a horticultural operation,” he said.

“We sold our house in Ballan to buy the farm, and I suppose buy our dream and get out of town. I’ve grown up on farms…I’m a little bit like a caged animal I suppose.”

Mr Grigg studied horticultural science and container production at university, going from growing roses, to hops and tobacco, and then to veggies, which he said was his passion.

“Broccoli was sort of a later part of the equation after we got everything else sorted…I’m an agronomist working in veggie production, so it was about time to put what I preach into practice I suppose,” he said.

To read the full story – Simply click on the following link

https://issuu.com/themooraboolnews/docs/mn_2022-05-03/7

in the 3 May 2022 edition
OR
pick up a paper around your town.