At Village Dreaming in Blampied, Mara Ripani describes a place that is less a finished project than an ongoing set of relationships between people, land and work. Volunteers, renters and workshop guests move through the property, sharing meals, tasks and knowledge. “We support each other, take turns to cook, clean and to unpack life’s mysteries,” she says.

Ripani spends a lot of time showing visitors around the land, especially people moving from cities who are trying to understand what rural life really requires. She is careful to strip away any romance. “The generosity and community building aspects are really strong,” she says, but she is equally clear about the workload. “A property like this takes seven days of care, planning, forecasting, and hosting.” What she focuses on in these tours are the systems that sit beneath the surface. “How water is captured, cleaned and reused, the importance of good quality soil and what that actually looks like,” she explains.

That attention to process carries through into her teaching and writing. Her upcoming book, The Baker’s Percentage, is intentionally not structured as a traditional cookbook. “More than anything the book reveals that there are clear milestones in the bread baking process,” she says, “as well as a formula that gives a strong framework for developing bread recipes.” The point, however, is not rigidity. It is adaptability. “Home bakers need heaps more flexibility,” she says, because they are managing “partners, children, housemates, work pressures, cleaning, laundry, couriering family members here, there and everywhere on demand.”

Bread-making, in her view, is shaped by environment and time rather than fixed instruction. “Wild yeasted bread baking is all about fermentation, a really dynamic process that needs a deeper understanding,” she says. That understanding, she adds, is also what makes it rewarding. It is “so darn rewarding and exciting” because it requires attention rather than control.

At ORTO, her cooking school and workshop space, food is closely tied to heritage and atmosphere. Ripani’s Italian background runs through the work in ways that are both practical and cultural. “I share my Italian language at my classes as often as possible,” she says, and at special events she sings folk songs. The intention is to create familiarity rather than performance. “I like to welcome people here as though they are family,” she says. Many visitors tell her the place feels like Italy. She attributes this to both background and the way the space has evolved through cooking, gardening and shared living.

She is direct about how much knowledge has been lost from everyday life. “Modern life has most definitely distanced us from these skills and experiences,” she says, referring to preserving, fermenting, foraging and growing food. But she also sees that shift as an opening rather than only a loss. “Now these skills are no longer an imposition but a possibility, a chance at creativity, a new language, fabulous discoveries, and a really exciting adventure.”

For Ripani, what draws people to Village Dreaming is often consistent. “Community, connection, meaningful warm interactions, and new relationships,” she says. Many also arrive wanting to learn skills that feel inaccessible on their own. The workshops are built around that combination of practical learning and shared experience, with time in gardens, kitchens and communal spaces.

That emphasis on connection also shapes how she lives. “We host people from all over the world,” she says. “This stops us from getting smaller in our thinking.” The exchange is ongoing, not transactional, and depends on constant participation.

She is cautious when asked about ideas like success. “I like to stay very far away from the word success because it feels like a dangerous word,” she says. What matters more to her is the quality of relationships in her life. “Having loving, caring relationships with others, knowing that I am deeply loved, and having the chance to deeply love others is the most precious thing to me.”

When she talks about the future of Village Dreaming, she avoids expansion or reinvention. “I hope it remains exactly as it is,” she says. What she does acknowledge is vulnerability. “Without adequate water, every part of our life here will diminish,” she says. The work, as she sees it, is ongoing care rather than completion. “I hope for this and a new generous flush of Indian runner ducks.”

Mara Ripani - Village Dreaming

villagedreaming.com.au

STORY BY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

PHOTOS BY KAIYA RAE