Who Is Frida?
When we first moved to the country we bought a big ginger pig and called her Frida. We’d never bred pigs before but we knew we wanted to give it a go. We wanted to live close to nature, we wanted to grow our own food, we wanted to spend our time doing the things we truly love, and we wanted to share this with others. Frida was our first step towards following our dream - a dream which keeps on growing!
OUR VISION
The property is a blank canvas which we are striving to transform into a really productive farm. One that generates an abundance of different types of food - fruits, nuts, vegetables, herbs, spices, bush tucker, meats and eggs. We want to share this food directly with others and grow it in a way that’s better for us (in terms of flavour and health) and better for the planet. We’ll be employing regenerative farming practices; drawing from syntropic agriculture, silvopasture, agroforestry, holistic farm management, permaculture, organics and biodynamics. We’ll be planting a wide variety of trees and plants (both food and non-food species) in an effort to recreate a forest-like ecosystem. We’ll be regenerating the native forest along the property’s waterways. We’ll be using ethical animal husbandry to actively manage our pastures and build organic matter within our soils. In doing so, we aim to increase biodiversity and soil health - both of which actively remove excessive carbon from the atmosphere (contributing, in a small way, to reducing the causes of climate change).
ABOUT THE FARM
The property’s rich basalt soils derive from the outpourings of the Focal Peak and Mount Warning volcanoes over 20 million years ago. These fertile soils enabled the growth of the largest subtropical rainforest in the world, covering an area 75,000 hectares. Once densely covered by this “Big Scrub” forest, the farm was one of the very last properties in the Northern Rivers to be cleared for farmland as it had been earmarked as a nature reserve. However, the government changed its mind and kept a block further down Booyong Road (which you can still visit today). Remnants of this magnificent forest still exist along the rivers that bound the farm; also home to platypus, water dragons, perch and bass.
Since the early 1900s, the property has been run as a family farm. For four generations and over a hundred years, the Johnson family were its custodians, successfully navigating the ebbs and flows of the local dairy industry. Their well-loved property became the focal point of local gatherings, including camp-outs, fishing days and the annual Nashua cricket match and fundraiser. This event still takes place each October at Johnson's pitch on the property's southern paddock, formerly the home ground of the old Nashua Cricket Club which started in 1907. We, the current owners, took over the property in 2014.
The farm is located in Nashua, which is a Native American Indian word meaning "land between two rivers". The hamlet was named by the Toohey brothers (of Toohey's Beer fame), who moved to the area from Ireland via the United States. We believe they were referring to this property, which lies between the Wilson River and the Byron Creek, making it the Nashua of Nashua!
ABOUT US
Frida’s Field is run by the Rawlings family - Edward and Jeanie with their 3 young kids and lots of support from Edward’s parents. As passionate foodies, having an interest in growing food and farming was a natural extension for us. Traveling and working in India, Sir Lanka, South East Asia and Europe we revelled in the local food cultures. While living in London and exploring Europe, we were inspired by the attention on provenance, artisanship and food ethics - solidifying our desire to live on the land and be involved in food production. We left our city lives and spent 4 years living on the farm where Edward grew up in Queensland, testing out wether we really liked country living by breeding Tamworth pigs and establishing a market garden. Then we were ready to commit to finding our “forever farm”. We chose to move to the Byron Bay Hinterland as it was a progressive regional area with stunning natural beauty where we believed that we would find a community of like-minded people. And we did! Our dream of making a living by growing food has developed and grown as we have dealt with the realities of the market and come into contact with inspiring, progressive ideas such as regenerative agriculture and agroforestry. We feel extremely lucky to be living here and giving this project our best shot!