January 2nd, 2022Sustainably produced food for the masses

But much of that has changed since travel restrictions were put in place. Tourists disappeared and the public places where he sold his produce shuttered in the blink of an eye. It has led to some reflection on where to next for Danny’s Farm at Blampied.

Danny came to Daylesford as a kid with his parents and went to school in Daylesford and Ballarat before heading to Melbourne University to study psychology and English. He moved back to Blampied six years ago and promptly changed career direction towards farming, initially leasing two hectares from his father. His desire was and remains to practice sustainable agriculture and reconnect consumers with the places their food comes from.

One way to do that was to establish a presence at places like the Daylesford Sunday Market, farmers markets at Melbourne University, Creswick and Ballan. Initially he did this by providing egg and bacon wraps, using his free-range eggs, his neighbour’s free-range bacon, creating the wraps from scratch and adding a home-made mayo, again using his eggs and thyme grown on his farm. But every market he approached already had someone selling the breakfast staple.

His sister, a keen baker, suggested friands, which are made from egg whites and are gluten-free, and soon every market was keen to have him on the books.

But it meant a lot of leftover egg yolks. Again, his sister came to the rescue with the idea of the Portuguese custard tarts. The story goes that they were first made by monks who were using all their egg whites to starch nun’s habits.

Whatever, the idea was a hit and Danny’s Farm was doing a roaring trade with them, along with brownies and pulled pork rolls using local free-range pork, apple sauce from locally grown apples, and even coleslaw from locally grown cabbages. The next was a food van, which was being built in a shed on his property, to sell the tarts “straight out of the oven” and specials depending on what was in season.

 Then came the pandemic crisis.

“It had a pretty big impact on our outlets. All the farmers markets where I was trading were cancelled. I’m still doing the Daylesford Sunday Market but that is restricted and there are no tourists. And the items we do, Portugese tarts, brownies and ice cream are kind of luxury eats, not a necessity. At one point I was thinking of wholesaling to cafes but then they have been impacted as well. So it has been a time of uncertainty here and has made me rethink the direction I want to go in.”

The 30-year-old, who has a steer, cow, calf, ducks, hens and large veggie patches, says that his current property (two hectares) is “probably the smallest scale you can do” and clearly was not flexible enough when the business model went belly-up.

However, not all is gloom. The enforced hibernation may be frustrating but it has also allowed Danny some time to consolidate what he has, to work on new projects and set about planning his next steps. That includes buying a further 10 hectares to extend his holdings. The additional land will help him rebound from his current difficulties and let him pursue his interest in the regenerative agriculture movement at a larger scale.   

“The movement is based around constantly moving the animals so the grass gets the chance to rest and recover and you can make use of that manure and your animals are always moving onto fresh grass as well. You regenerate the ground and the grass comes back with more diversity as well. The roots go deeper and you get more carbon into the ground, it’s a really nice little system. I’m looking forward to doing it on a larger scale and being able to produce more for the community.”

Agriculture in Australia has always been vulnerable to the vagaries of weather and climate. Farming success always comes moderated by times of difficulty and setbacks and the COVID-19 pandemic is just another hurdle to address. There is no doubt that Danny Kinnear and his farm will come back from this current setback and he has already started his journey.   

Words: Tony Sawrey & Donna Kelly | Image: Contributed