Fresh is Best

STORY BY MORNINGSWOOD FARM

Claire Gunner and Peter Monea are the farmers behind Daylesford’s first pick-your-own strawberry farm, Morningswood Farm, located in Eganstown. 

‘We knew that we had found the right place to call home when our neighbour came and introduced herself before the moving truck had even departed’, says Claire. Having toyed with the idea of moving out of the bustling heart of Geelong in search of a more quiet and spacious area the couple landed on Daylesford. ‘It was by accident really. Claire was already working in Ballarat and I found a job in Castlemaine, Daylesford was in the middle’. ‘We had visited the town on weekends a few times and we just loved the vibe’. Claire grew up in the coastal town of Point Lonsdale so the influx of visitors on a regular basis only felt natural to her. Whilst for Pete, he loved the busy atmosphere on the Main Street on the weekend as it has ties back to living in the city in Geelong. 

‘We started to look for a place of our own within six months of being here and after visiting a few properties we settled on the block we now call ‘Morningswood Farm’. With 25 acres of former pine plantation to play with Pete and Claire set about finding out what they could grow on the land. ‘Claire had fond memories of going strawberry picking at ‘Lomas Ochards’ in Wallington as a kid and she said to me, wouldn’t it be great if we could be the people who create those memories for other kids?’ The idea was born and they began trials while Pete took a year off work to get the farm up and running. ‘We wanted to try and grow a range of berries and see what suited us best and what we thought we could make a go of. Neither of us have ever farmed before so the last few years has been a gigantic learning curve’. ‘Our berries have been in the ground for 3 - 4 years now and we have begun to focus on strawberries as our main crop’.

Organic has been important to Pete and Claire for a long time too. ‘Searching for organic food in Geelong wasn’t too bad but Daylesford and the surrounding area is blessed with wonderful producers and people to support them. So it was only natural that we would want to grow strawberries organically and provide a space for fruit growing as well as for all the life that surrounds and shares the planet, with us’. If treading as lightly on the environment as they can is their goal then they are certainly achieving it with the addition of making their own punnets from reclaimed veneer. ‘We started with completely compostable punnets that were made from corn starch. We couldn’t find anyone who was making the type of punnets in Australia until we delivered some strawberries to our neighbour one day’. ‘I won’t repeat what he said about the corn starch punnets but let’s just say he thought we could come up with something better’ says Pete with a wry smile on his face. The punnets that are hand made on site hark back to the traditional way that strawberries used to be sold, in punnets made from veneer. ‘We work with a veneer maker down in Melbourne and take their off cuts that are destined for land fill and turn them into the punnets that you pick into when you visit the farm.

Whilst farming is not without it’s challenges the couple are doing everything that they can to make a real go of this adventure into pick-your-own berries, ‘Learning is the key for us’ says Pete, ‘coming from a standpoint of knowing next to nothing, everyday is a school day for us and we wouldn’t have it any other way’. 

The farm is open for pick-your-own as of the 5th of December, Wednesdays and weekends for the whole summer, bookings are essential.

Morningswood Farm 

0409 797 993

3735 Midland Hwy, Eganstown VIC 3461

www.morningswoodfarm.com