0423 183 485 | gday@rolypolyfarm.com.au

Roly Poly Farm

 
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LOCAL | SEASONAL | HAND-FARMED

Photo: Briana Shepherd, ABC

Photo: Briana Shepherd, ABC

Roly Poly Farm produces high quality, seasonal vegetables, year-round in the hills of Perth, Australia. Our produce is for families, individuals, restaurants and cafes across Perth who want fresh, local, nutrient-dense food, that sustains the individual, community, farmer, and land.

 

Sign up to our convenient weekly vegetables boxes, or come see us at the farmers markets every Saturday.

 

We are a direct connection between you, our local community, and the food that sustains you - this means a longer shelf-life, greater flavour and less food miles.

 

We use hand tools, strong arms, and a whole lot of love to grow food, soil, community, and ecology.
 

 

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SPRING CSA SHARE 7! . Large: Leeks | Rainbow Chard | Red Curly Kale | Pak Choi | Baby Kale Mix | French Breakfast Radish | Dill | Purple KohlrabI | Mint | Carrots . Small: Leek | Red Curly Kale | Pak Choi | Baby Kale Mix | French Breakfast Radish | Dill | Purple KohlrabI Carrots . #csa #community #supported #agriculture #knowyourfarmer #buylocal #eatlocal
My stomach has been in knots all day (in fact, it wasn't until I looked up from a 💕 message from my climate-protesting sister and saw this scene in front of me that it finally relaxed). I was worried that people wouldn't show, that the algorithms that make me see what I want to see online had done their work, and were in fact shielding me from the actual more dire and unsupportive reality. I was worried that today would reconfirm my suspicions; that we are indeed, buggered. . 35,000 protesters in Brisbane, 150,000 in Melbourne, 80,000 in Sydney and 10k in Perth. 300,000+ in Australia alone (and I know that this is only a teeny weeny percentage of Australia's population, but angry minorities make a lot more noise than passive majorities) ✊ . 4,685 cities across the world participated. From the bottom of my heart, thank you thank you thank you to all of the amazing souls who showed up, took a stand, and made an absolute racket...and to all of the rest who couldn't show up, but are making a racket regardless! . What next? Well, to borrow some words from our friends over at @thesageproject, as my end-of-harvest-day brain is lacking the power of creativity right now: . "It's going to get rough, folks. Our kids and grandkids are going to bear the brunt of it. The time to adapt is now. Right now. . So reduce your carbon footprint, help store carbon in the soil by eating locally grown and supporting local farmers, do what you can within your own sphere of influene, and then ALSO demand our governments at all levels and governments across the glove to do what they can within theirs. . Speak up while democracy is still breathing." . I'm off to sign a few more #climateemergency petitions, print some CSA lists, drink a glass of red, and then we're heading to @kyillafarmersmarket bright n' early tomorrow morning, to create a future we believe is worth fighting for. . P.S. Dec wants me to tell y'all that we, "are chockaz with stir fry material...and something about soil-grown not hydroponic, so they have flavour/ more than just water". . Word. . #climatestrike #australia #regenerativeagriculture #thefuture #bethechangeyouwanttoseeintheworld #perth #stirfry #spokenlikeafarmer
Direct seeded, transplanted, thinned and not. Started in our greenhouse, bought in from another's greenhouse, transplanted by hand and transplanted with a stand n' plant (pictured in the background here). . We have had a frustrating abundance of beets, and a frustrating scarcity of them (i.e. now, as we wait for the soil to warm up 🙄). . Monday saw our last ever crop go into gidge soil; it was beets. Transplanted (bought) with the stand n' plant, not thinned, and planted close, at 15cm apart. . Ever learning, ever changing, and ever attempting to grow the best darn beets out!! . (although @plantedpassion is providing some tough competition 😜) . #beets #marketgarden #transplant #soil #variables #gidgegannup #perth
A bit of a milestone for the ol' Roly Poly crew...we are hiring!! . We are looking for a long-term full-timer, who will work alongside us in field and harvest duties. The successful candidate will approach farming as a long-term career, and will be looking to get their hands dirty. No previous experience required, however a can-do attitude and willingness to learn is. Dec says they must be "dynamic". I say they must be a powerful advocate of 10sies (morning tea), and have a strong coffee tooth. . Head to the link in our profile (www.rolypolyfarm.com.au/employment) for more 'dynamic' details, job responsibilities, pay rates, and application forms. . Job commences mid-January, which means just in time to get sweaty, and work on some shmicko farmer tan lines together. . Applications close the 1st of December, 2019. . We are super excited!!! Please share with everyone and anyone 😊 . #perth #perthfarm #perthjobs #harvey #marketgarden #crew #job #wearehiring
We first met Lizzie and Gianluigi from Piccolo Farm two years ago when they invited two complete strangers (us) into their home, after we reached out to them on our farming sabbatical. . 10 days ago, a freak storm hit their .5 acre market garden, which is located in Thirlmere, NSW, an hour south of Sydney. Winds reaching up to 100km/hr left their poly tunnels in absolute ruins, and they now have some 400 tomato plants needing to get into a tunnel-protected environment before they explode out of their pots in just a couple of weeks. A loss like this can be an enormous hit for a small scale farm, especially with a prime income earner such as tomatoes. Lizzie's sister has set up a go fund me campaign to help, and we share it here in the hopes that you can help our friends get back on their feet. . These two work tirelessly to feed their community. It occurred to me how ego-less their endeavour is when I sat down to find a photo of the two together...after trawling through beautiful photos of veggies, flowers and the endless community-based workshops they hold, I had to dust off this one of them at a wedding back in April last year! . In the small-scale farming movement, every single farm and farmer are important, as together, we make up the whole. We've had a decent season over here on the west coast compared to a lot of our friends on the east, so it's time to spread the successes, and ride out the failures together. . Give what you can, share when you can. Although you may not have met Piccolo Farm in the flesh, they are everything that we are about, and they need a little help, right now! Head to @piccolofarm, where you can find the link to the gofundme campaign in their profile. . #smallscalefarm #notill #regenerative #storm #helpafellowfarmer #marketgarden
Sometimes, the stars align with the soil temperature which aligns with the crop nutrition which aligns with the rainfall which aligns with the seeding density which aligns with the night time temperatures which align with the daytime temperatures, which leads to you harvesting a bed of French Breakfast Radishes that is so deep in bliss and satisfaction, it makes you fall in love all over again. . No yellowing cotyledons, no pest or disease damage. . ~~ The absolute dream ~~ . #nowtorepeat #luckywehaverecords #seestoriesforreference #😉
and who doesn't want to live with the brisk motor of his heart singing . - Mary Oliver ............... ......... Our first ever collection of Mary Oliver just arrived in the mail, and I am absolutely smitten. ......... ............... #poppies #spring #moments #maryoliver #poetry #nature #observation #poetryandmarketgardeninggoextremelywell
SPRING CSA SHARE 6! . Small: Tuscan Kale | Pea Shoots | Four Cornered Leek | Kale Raab (not pictured) | Sauerkraut | Carrots | Coriander | Salad Mix . Large: Four Cornered Leek | Carrots | Tuscan Kale | Salad Mix | Sauerkraut | Komatsuna/Bok Choy | Pea Shoots | Celery | Coriander . 🔥BOOM🔥 . #csa #knowyourfarmer #vegetables #growem #eatem #community #alloftheleafies
What's the best type of plastic-alternative packaging? No packaging at all!! . Tomorrow, we will have these gems available at @kyillafarmersmarket, which are essentially our ever popular salad mix, in their unadulterated (plastic free!) form. . We'll have instructions on how to use and store these head lettuce at home, in order to ensure longevity and maximun freshness 🥗 . Head lettuce is something we want to bring more consistently to markets, so come on down to Kyilla, and let's get that supply meeting demand (helloooo year 10 economics). . #headlettuce #plastic #plasticfree #plasticfreejuly #plasticreeeeallofthemonths #salad #localfood #fresh #perthfood #buylocal #eatlocal #knowyourfarmer #economics #nailedit
Soils with higher carbon store more moisture, and with rainfall events becoming more and more scarce, where we are, or perhaps there are more and more flood events in your neck of the woods, getting water held in that soil is increasingly important. But how does soil hold water? Glomalin! . Glomalin is a sugar protein that was only identified and named in 1996 (a reminder of how young and incomplete our understanding of the relationship between soil and plants is). . It is produced by mycorrhizal fungi that live inside plant roots, and which extend hair-like filaments or hyphae into the surrounding soil to obtain more nutrients. . The sticky glomalin proteins sit on the hyphae, which then form a net. This net traps particles of sand, silt, clay and organic matter and holds them together to form lumps or aggregates of soil. . On the surface of these lumps or aggregates, the glomalin forms a waxy coating to stop water pouring into the aggregate and breaking it up. This allows water infiltration, holds water for plant use, and provides organic carbon for soil organisms to feed on. . The aggregates also store carbon deep inside the aggregate that microbes cannot access. . Glomalin also coats the fungal hyphae to protect them from decomposition and microbial attacks, and to ensure that water and nutrients reach the plant. . Long story short, glomalin helps to store both water and carbon in the soil, and everyone, both farmer and home owner should be striving to max out their glomalin levels. . How? Keep those roots in the ground and that soil covered, put away those fungicides, and practice no-till or low-till methods (not inverting the soil). Perennials are ideal, but as can be seen above, an annual system can mimic perennials in this way if managed correctly. . Oh and turf the astroturf. That stuff is ridiculous. . #water #growsoil #soilfarming #biology #turftheturf #turfthefungicides #turfthetiller #regenerativeag #knowyourfarmer #knowtheirsoil #choosewhatyoueat #andwhoyousupport #agriculture #marketgarden
Still sorting out our thoughts after @regenwa 'Regenerative Agriculture Conference: Investing in our food future' that was held today at the footy stadium, but a huge well done and thank you to all who organised, attended and spoke today. We were in delicious company, and a definite highlight was running around like a madwoman at morning tea, trying to say hello to new friends and old, all of whom have an interest and role in Australia's Regenerative Agriculture movement...which should be everyone who lives, breaths and eats, really, but more on that once I sort out me scribbled notes! . Thanks again, team. So exciting to see an event of this size come to fruition around a movement and transition that is so so important, but so often under-represented. . Second highlight was fangirling Charles Massy 📸😍🥳 . #regenerativeagriculture #climatechange #farmers #agriculturalpracticesgottachange #soil #soilfarming #resiliency #conference #citytrip #townboots #scrubup #thenscrubdown
When your work and your passion overlap, your night time reading stand looks like this... . "Eating is an agricultural act." - Wendell Berry. It is also a political act, a social act, and an ecological act, and it absolutely fascinates us. . We have a budding 'to-read' list (well, to be completely honest, excel list, because #excellife), but we are always hungry for more, especially since we started our mandatory half hour reading routine before sleep each night. If you've read anything recently, either in the food politics realm, farming game, or just good ol' fiction ('Lanny' by Max Porter is high on that worksheet thanks to @milkwood_permaculture), then comment below! 🤓 . #books #readinglist #everynight #routine #agriculture #politicalact #fiction #excelsmakemyworldgoround #neverstoplearning