CERTIFIED Organic – What’s the Difference?
These days many of us are interested in health and well-being and want to ensure what we put into our bodies is good for us, or at least isn’t going to harm us.
A lot of farmers claim to be organic because they don’t, as a rule, use herbicides or pesticides. We applaud this effort! It’s a wonderful thing to try and farm without chemicals so that our food isn’t at risk of carrying any nasty residues, and they can quite rightly claim to be chemical-free. But they can only claim to be organic as long as any feed that they give to their animals comes from 100% natural sources as well, and there’s a big difference between that and being CERTIFIED ORGANIC. If you are in any doubt whether a producer is legitimately organic, simply ask to see their organic accreditation, or ask them about the food they buy in, and their farming practices to make sure every part of their business is organically grown or sourced.
Remember, You are what you eat!
On a certified organic farm, the animals and plants growing on that farm (which we as consumers end up eating) are themselves nourished only by organic food. For example, on Restdown our cows eat only the pastures and grasses grown here on the farm under certified organic conditions. We don’t buy in feed or use artificial supplements, it’s just pure native grasses and some introduced ones that have germinated naturally but contribute to the soil’s fertility and structure. These plants have never seen an artificial fertiliser, have never been sprayed to kill pests, and are themselves, only nourished by organic cow poo, distributed by, you guessed it, our certified organic cows! Can you see the loop?
Our cattle rarely get sick. They eat top-quality, nutrient-dense tucker from dawn to dusk. So imagine you ate only stuff that was good for you. No fast food, no sugary treats, no caffeine. That’s what makes the difference and that’s why our cows are in the peak of health. If an animal injures itself or needs care, of course, we are going to give it the best care possible and if that means antibiotics to prevent an infection, then that’s what we do. However, that animal is quarantined for a period of time until the antibiotics are out of their system, so that there’s no risk of cross-contamination with any other animals. Unfortunately, that animal can never be considered organic again, however, what matters to us is that the animal gets well and continues to live a stress-free, healthy life.
So why does certified organic produce cost more?
At least once a year we are audited by an independent auditor who comes to Restdown and goes through our records with a fine-tooth comb. They follow the paper trail that we keep religiously throughout the year, to make sure that everything we use to grow and make our products, is approved and recorded. (Any of the inputs we purchase to make our wine- yeasts, for example, also have to be certified organic and of course, cost more to produce and purchase than conventional inputs.)
Like many of you around the nation, we've had more than our usual share of rain this year, and it just keeps on coming!!! With the nearby towns of Echuca and Barham on high alert this weekend, our thoughts are with those in the firing line.
Happy Cows but Delays with Beef
On the upside, the regular rainfall has meant our cows will be fat and happy for many months to come and irrigation water will not be required in the foreseeable future. The struggle for the past few months has been with access to our cattle yards . Our beef customers will be aware of the delays we've been experiencing in transporting steers out for processing and subsequently, we've had no beef available for several weeks. Hopefully this won't continue for too much longer.
Member's Dozen Coming Soon
Member's of our wine club, the Restdown Revellers will be aware that it's almost time to roll out our Member's Dozen for 2022. Our selection for this year is a an absolute cracker, with some beautiful aged reds, including our new release 2018 Wild Merlot and a wide selection of whites. The Sangiovese Rose makes an appearance too! Expect another email in your inbox shortly with details and delivery/payment arrangements. If you'd like to know more about joining our wine club and receiving 15% off all your wine purchases, don't hesitate to get in touch.
Rowdy by name
Earlier this year, we welcomed a new addition to the farm with the arrival of a young bull, Rowdy! To quote his breeder Debbie, "he's got a bit o' leg under him!" Don is thinking of entering Rowdy into the Cow Olympics. High jump, steeplechase or perhaps even pole vault would be his area of expertise, as he clears fences without any trouble, choosing his paddock at will. The girls seem impressed however and we're expecting some beautiful calves next year!
Gracie Pup
Any of you who've visited Restdown as part of a tour group, will no doubt have been impressed with our kelpie, Gracie. She is the real star of Restdown visits, wooing guests with her glamorous good looks, speed, athleticism and stimulating conversation. She's also our chief pest eradication officer (4 bunnies this week at last count) and indispensable cattle mover. She's been a godsend with all the water laying around in the paddocks, as we are unable to drive on much of the farm. Instead she crosses channels without hesitation, bounds through the wet paddocks with a big grin and guides the animals to where they need to go to find dry ground. She's definitely earning her keep at the moment.
New website coming soon!
We are in the throes of designing a new updated website. Hoping to launch by the end of the year, it will provide a simpler, easier journey for the user and it's looking very swish in draft format! If the old website gives you any trouble with ordering or contacting us, please let us know. It's definitely ready for retirement!
We met in London in 1992, after a couple of riotous years traveling around the world, including for me, a year-long stint in France. Don and I returned to Australia with literally nothing but a backpack full of dirty clothes and two Turkish rugs, and then set about reacquainting ourselves with Australian life and responsibilities, which we’d done our best to avoid up until that time. The flat plains and sand hills around the Murray River outside Barham were home for Don but a blank canvas for me, having grown up in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley.
After just a couple of months staying on Don’s family farm in Kowarra, 10kms south of what is now known as Restdown, we decided to put down roots, and married in 1995. We then decided we’d like to build a house and set up our own farming enterprise. Being the youngest of 3 brothers, Don had been strongly encouraged to go to Uni and “get a real job”, so he had studied criminology and legal psychology – handy topics for a farmer! His family were surprised to say the least, that we wanted to stay and farm, and probably expected us to last a couple of years before tiring of the whole idea. In the end, we were granted 20 acres on the property the family referred to as “Down Below”, now Restdown. Don’s parents had purchased “Down Below” in the 70s to grow rice and graze cattle and we loved the natural belts of timber and the untouched feel of the large grazing paddocks. We clapped our hands, scratched our heads and researched all possible options, eventually settling on the plan to grow wine grapes. The plan greatly appealed to me. My time in France, being immersed in French food and wine culture, had left an indelible imprint on my soul and my upbringing around the Hunter Region meant I knew one end of a wine bottle from the other.
With plenty of experience in the drinking of wine, but little knowledge about growing anything much, the plan was for Don to study small-scale viticulture and start planting grapes. I would continue primary teaching. It was 1996 and the wine industry was booming. Need I say more? We began with the excitement of youth and held great hopes for expanding our initial 3-acre plantings and supplying the winery that offered us
the best price, and the prices being offered were sensational! After 2 years, we did expand our vineyard and again 2 years later, eventually ending up with 17 acres of Semillon and Merlot. It wasn’t long however before grape prices started to dip and we could see the writing on the wall for grape growers. Around the same time, I started to develop some health issues and it became increasingly difficult for me to hold down a full-time job teaching, as I had been since 1994. The idea of working at home and the flexibility of working my own hours was very appealing, not to mention the possibilities that a career in food and wine could present, so I embarked upon a series of short
courses in winemaking at the University of Melbourne’s Dookie campus. This was followed by a 1-year BRIT course in winemaking practices, run by the winemaker at Tisdall’s, Echuca winery. I had gained just enough knowledge to start playing around with winemaking and after an initial vintage in the carport, in 2002 we designed our own very small, underground winemaking facility and cellar door, with the idea of setting up a commercial venture, which would add a bit of value to the grapes we were already growing. Don had the idea of planting a couple of rows each of chardonnay, shiraz, Sangiovese and cabernet sauvignon, to see how they grew on our site, just in case we
wanted to expand our winemaking venture down the track.
At this point, our nearest winery or neighboring vineyard for that matter, was 65km away in the newly established Perricoota wine district. Our soil types and micro-climate are completely different to those in Perricoota, so there wasn’t anyone around with experience growing wine grapes in our conditions. We learned our new trade by trial and error, experimenting with everything from trellising techniques to mulching and soil moisture monitoring, being labeled as “hippies” for bothering to spread straw under our vines. Soil health became Don’s focus. Several agronomists were consulted and their recommendations were analysed in detail. However, he started questioning the
lack of common sense these so-called experts displayed. His careful observations of the vines, the vineyard and the surrounding natural environment were building strong convictions about what would and wouldn’t work on our site and he started to develop a dislike for the use of chemicals and artificial fertilisers. It wasn’t long before he decided to experiment with biological, organic and bio-dynamic products and by 2006 we had fazed out all chemical use.
Meanwhile, I was busily making wine. Small parcels at first, as I learned my trade, gradually expanded to our maximum processing capacity of 1.5T lots. Each vintage the wines got better and we made greater volumes, also experimenting with the new varieties we’d planted. I developed an interest in traditional French winemaking methods as the subtleties and complexities of French wine appealed to me greatly and our low-
tech style of winemaking mirrored traditional methods. The minimal intervention was my focus – let the wine make itself. That meant, minimal filtration, minimal use of sulphur and fining agents, and a flirtation with wild yeasts. I continue to work under these principles today.
In 2011, after 12 years, the millennium drought finally broke in our area and Don’s parents decided they’d had enough of farming and were ready to pass on their land and the management of their Hereford beef herd to us. Don had been overseeing their operation for 17 years and still refers to it as his 17-year apprenticeship. In 2016 we achieved our long-held dream of becoming certified organic across the entire property. The beef, the grapes, and the wine we produce from them, could now finally be considered as truly organic!
Each year we continue to process around 5 tonnes of grapes for our winemaking, but our days of supplying grapes to other wineries have drawn to a close. A number of factors, including the prohibitive cost of water, unsatisfactory grape prices, our struggles to find backpackers to help with the vineyard since Covid hit, and our maturing bodies, have all led us to the heart-wrenching decision to begin pulling out the vines we no longer require. This will see our vineyard shrinking back to just a few acres – almost back to where we began, 25 years ago.
Our business continues to evolve, with 2021 being the 4th year for us selling our organically grown beef under our Jungle Lane Beef Co label, in 10kg and 5kg boxes of mixed cuts. Our beef has been the sleeping giant of our farm enterprise. Our family and friends had been telling us that the meat we were growing and processing for our own consumption was fantastic, so we finally made the big leap to begin selling it commercially.
We still enjoy the many challenges of our business and our life amongst the vines. Our passion for promoting quality, organic, regional food and wine has only increased and intensified with time, and our determination to combine farming and conservation work on Restdown is reflected in all our management decisions. Our aim is to continue
improving the health of our soil, to grow the best quality beef and grapes we can, which are packed with flavour and nutrition while having minimal impact on the natural environment. We’re always striving to make sensational wines using minimal intervention techniques, which are a true reflection of their terroir and of us.