The Hawkesbury Harvest Farm Gate Trail

Renaissance Rocking Horses

Well over 20 years ago,in Tasmania, a lady wandered into Chris Woolcock's workshop where he made educational toys for children.  Chris, whose grandfather had taught him to whittle wood as a young boy, was going broke as competition had begun to build from China.  The lady wondered if Chris could repair an old rocking horse of hers.  He thought he could give it a go and spent the next few weeks repairing the horse and building new pieces to replace those which had fallen victim to rot and worm.  Whilst he was doing this repair work a man came in and exclaimed "At last I have found someone who can make me a rocking horse!"  Chris quoted what he thought was an outrageous price to make this man a rocking horse but the man was happy to pay.

So a business was born which has come from Tasmania to McGraths Hill (143 Pitt Town Road).  Chris has made over 5000 rocking horses since then, some for celebrities; many, many more for ordinary Australians who see the beauty and magic in something made by hand from wood, not plastic.  The wonder of owning and handing down through generations a gorgeous rocking horse, each one having its own personality.

Chris and his partner Viktoria are a dynamic couple in person.  Between Chris and his incredible craftsmanship and Viktoria with her collections of prams and porcelain dolls they have something unique to sell not just to  Sydney but to Australia.  Not content to simply sell rocking horses they have built a business which incorporates everything from tour groups coming to the property to intensive workshops where participants are able to craft their own rocking horses.

Participants for these workshops are usually in their late fifties and early sixties. Age is no limit though  -  an 83 year old man and a 76 year old woman have participated.  The latter was never able to buy her daughter a rocking horse as a child and wanted to make a horse for her for her 50th birthday. She began the course immaculately coiffed and groomed and ended it covered in sawdust! 

A fellow from Brisbane has been to the workshop twice, travelling from Brisbane to make a rocking horse for each of his grandchildren.

Such are the touching stories Chris and Viktoria have to tell.

On their 10 acre property Chris and Viktoria also have animals, sheep, ducks and turkeys amongst them.  They love giving people the opportunity to get close to the animals and Chris is particularly passionate about breeding rare chickens, which when I visited were young hatchlings in an incubator. The chance for adults and children to nestle warm eggs in their hands is something many have not experienced before.

 

The workshop itself is wonderful - everything is covered in a layer of sawdust and a myriad of half finished and completed horses are to be seen. It is a joy to be shown around and marvel at the work done here.  The level of work intensifies in the months and days leading up to Christmas, with Chris working from 5.00am to 9.00pm seven days a week.  Christmas is celebrated by the Woolcocks themselves in the New Year, as that is when they can finally relax.

Not only is Viktoria an intrinsic part of Rocking Horse Lodge, she is also a prime mover behind the Hawkesbury Artists and Artisans Trail. 

This busy couple are truly passionate about this amazingly productive part of Australia.

I leave Renaissance Rocking Horses laden with fresh vegetables and preserves. And the thought that when I am 76 I too might be able to make a rocking horse of my own!

For further information on tours and courses please go to www.rockinghorses.com.au

143 Pitt Town Road

McGraths Hill 

02 4577 8697

Please visit the Hawkesbury Harvest website...

Schofields Orchard

Number 19 Map 1B The Hawkesbury Harvest Farm Gate Trail Maps

 

 

The air is scented with pine and the sweet tang of citrus fruit as I walk up the long drive to the packing shed where I am to meet with Darryl and Lyn Schofield.

The packing shed is large and noisy with conveyor belts moving a seemingly endless supply of oranges around the shed.  Darryl is driving a forklift, effortlessly shifting pallets and stacking them high and neatly.  These boxes of oranges are destined for the Flemington Markets.

 

 

 

 

Lyn and I wander outside to talk in the sun.

The 32 acre orchard was established over 50 years ago by Darryl's parents and is run by the senior Schofields, Darryl and Lyn and Darryl's brother.  Darryl has worked here all his life, since he was a young boy.  

The Schofields work 6 days a week, tending to their navel oranges and sweet imperial mandarins.

The mandarins are in season from June to August and the oranges run from May to December. Once the oranges are finished the couple work on maintenance until the season commences again in May.  It is no surprise to learn that Darryl and Lyn have not had a holiday for some years.  Darryl's parents, now in their nineties, also continue to work in the orchard.

Lyn is passionate about the importance of the general public supporting producers like the Schofields. She has noticed that more and more people are coming to their stall, finding them through the Hawkesbury Harvest website. The feedback she receives indicates that people see the Farm Gate Trail as a break from the city and an opportunity to buy competitively priced, fresh produce.

"People don't realise how they are cutting their own throats if the farmers stop producing due to lack of support," she says.

She tells me that as far as the eye could see was originally all orange orchards, but now other commercial interests have taken over.

"We are basically here for the love of it," Lyn continues. She explains that the prices of fruit have not changed much in thirty years but other costs associated with the industry have of course increased greatly in that time.

"Will your daughters take over the orchard?" I ask Lyn.

"No," she responds.  "There is no money in it.  When we go the gates will close."

That will not be happening any time soon thank goodness...

The Schofields opened a stall three years ago in conjunction with the Farm Gate Trail (42Yarramundi Lane, Richmond).  From the stall they sell their own fruit together with whatever produce they can source locally from friends and neighbours.  Depending on the season this can include peaches, nectarines, strawberries, tomatoes, eggs, garlic, apples, pecan nuts and local honey.

42 Yarramundi Lane

Richmond

0408 029 988

Please visit the Hawkesbury Harvest website

The Secret Garden and Nursery

Number 17 Map 1B Hawkesbury Harvest Farm Gate Trail Maps

In a quiet corner of the University of Western Sydney's Hawkesbury Campus there is a magical Secret Garden. Spread over 2 hectares is a horticultural nursery which has both plants and the welfare of people with disabilities and mental illness at its heart.

Run by Hawkesbury Skills Inc  (a not for profit organisation) the garden and nursery deliver training, support and respite to people from various relevant groups.  On the day I visited I met men from Cherrywood Village and watched a group of school children from a local special education unit wandering happily around the garden and picking vegetables from their plot. I heard their cries of pleasure as they visited the pigs and saw little black lambs.

 

 

 

I also met Marianne who is responsible for the day to day running of the nursery and who is assisted by a third year horticultural apprentice, Alicia.

Patiently they work with volunteers and the disabled who together ensure that the hundreds of plants in their care are in the best shape possible for sale to the public.

Marianne tells me that the garden receives no government funding, but relies instead on a handful of philanthropic donors and also volunteer work to keep going.  Plant sales are crucial to the ongoing viability of the project.

People with medium to high needs are taught nursery skills and just as importantly, life skills, as they develop socially and build friendships.

Marianne sums up the work being done as "horticultural health therapy."

On average 50 or so people with disabilities a week visit the site and include organisations, schools and individuals.

New Start participants, approximately 8 - 10 a week, work here as well.

"We could always do with more " says Marianne, wryly, referring to volunteer workers.

 

Travis - a regular volunteer

 

 

It was a privilege to spend time with Darryl, George, Mark and Kenny.

 

 

Darryl mows the lawn...

 

 

Mark does the watering

 

 

George rakes and generally helps out

 

 

and Kenny, who is extremely unsteady on his feet, can pot the tiniest seedling with the utmost care.

This beautiful nursery, which sells hundreds of different varieties of plants, can be found by entering College Drive from Bourke Street (Richmond).  Turn right down the dirt road opposite the security hut and follow the Secret Garden signs.

It is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and holds a special plant sale on the first Saturday of the month.

 

 

Cnr Science Road and Campus Drive

University of Western Sydney

Richmond

02 4567 8424

Please visit the Hawkesbury Harvest website...

 

 

Blue Mountains Honey Shed

 

Number 40 Map 3 Hawkesbury Harvest Farm Gate Trail Maps 

In a light industrial area of Penrith  (Unit 1, 23 Peachtree Road) there is a shop and factory devoted to products related to honey.  Relishes, jams, candles and of course honey can all be bought here.  Here you will find Steve, Gen and Emma Craig and their business called Blue Mountains Honey. On the day I visited the most amazing aromas of apple and ginger jam and eggplant relish cooking in large pots were wafting through the air.

The honey itself comes from the hives Steve has at Cowra.

The story behind Blue Mountains Honey began over thirty years ago when Steve and a couple of mates drove out west and visited a friend who owned beehives.  Steve stayed in the car and the others got stung!  When he returned home he laughed with Gen about the story but somehow he had managed to be bitten himself with a love of bees.

His next door neighbour worked at the Agricultural College at Richmond and was able to get Steve a beehive.  Steve did a lot of reading and met a local beekeeper by the name of Brian Brett who proved to be a brilliant teacher.  He also did a correspondence course and a practical beekeeping course at the Agricultural College.

He and Gen began taking their honey to local markets, including a market held weekly at the Renaissance Centre in Katoomba.  Here they shared space with a hatter, a woodturner, potters and knitters.  They sold honey, honey pots and beeswax candles.

The Blue Mountains Tourism Authority approached Steve and Gen to provide them with tiny jars of honey for a conference they were holding.  This spurred the Craigs on to develop a gift range which included honey scones and damper packs.  As an ex pastry chef Steve was well placed to produce these items!

A very sad time where Gen's brother was killed and Steve's father died led  to Gen and Steve assessing what they really wanted to do with their own lives. Gen decided to leave the bank where she was working and Steve left his job with Prospect Electricity in order to focus entirely on their business.

Their daughter Emma was born 26 years ago and was taken to festivals and markets with this hardworking pair.  

Around 20 years ago and as a result of their participation in a honey promotion sponsored by David Jones, they were asked by that company to do a presentation for them of a gift line for Mothers Day.  They were asked if they could provide 2 to 3 thousand of their gift packages for David Jones stores country wide.

"Sure we can, " they replied and then went into panic mode.  With the help of friends and family they were able to fill this important order.  

 

 

So began a number of successful years involved with some of Australia's leading corporations, selling gift lines under licence. They were also involved in exporting their products overseas.  One notable client was St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney.  On discovering a feral bees nest in the Cathedral during renovations, two local beekeepers were called into remove it and the Craigs were commissioned to make a limited edition honey.  Honey jar number 1 was of course sent to the Pope!

In the past five years or so things have not been going quite as well.  The Craigs' business was badly affected by the drought and the drop in tourism numbers due to the SARS virus several years ago also had an impact.

 

 

 

Having said that, the shop is thriving and was certainly busy whilst I was there. The Craig's daugher Emma, a talented singer, who swore she would never join the business, is the driver behind, and the cook responsible for, the relishes and jams being produced under the Peachtree label. An important ingredient is, of course, honey.

They are excited by their membership of the Hawkesbury Harvest Farm Gate Trail.  It has enabled them to get back to what they love above all else - dealing directly with the public and getting customer feedback and pleasure in the products being sold. 

 

 

This close knit family, who are always together and laugh uproariously most of the time, work long hours six days a week.  It is clear that a passion ignited over 30 years ago still drives them today.

As I left Steve tells me something that still makes me smile each time I think of it.

"The funny thing is," he says with a grin," is that Gen is scared of bees and Emma is highly allergic to them!"

Next time I will be seeing Steve in action with the bees themselves.

Blue Mountains Honey Shed

2868 The Northern Road

Luddenham

02 4773 3279

  

Please visit the Hawkesbury Harvest website