Ann-Marie Monda: Tapping into the gourmet food market with a lighter footprint
Wooroomook is home to Holy Goat, an organic farm producing gourmet cheeses that have become a huge hit amongst the foodies in Melbourne.
Ann-Marie Monda and her partner Carla Meurs run the place sustainably – collecting native seeds, replanting, clearing weeds and caring for adjacent Myrtle Creek. Eighty goats roam the Sutton Grange property, which has 4 part time employees on the farm and 5 at the farmers markets.
“We were attracted to this place for its native vegetation, water availability and beautiful view of Mount Alexander,” says Ann-Marie. “It’s also near Melbourne farmers’ markets, and sustainability means we try to sell our cheeses within two hours of the farm.”
The farm has no permanent flowing water – humans drink rainwater and the goats rely on Winter Creek and four small dams (built in the 1960s). In the wet months, thousands of tiny trickles converge to form this waterway, which flows between old Red Gums, over granite boulders and into adjacent Myrtle Creek. The Myrtle joins the Coliban River, which joins the Campaspe and eventually reaches the Murray. “All these little waterways are effectively the start of the Murray,” says Ann-Marie. “So we only send good-quality water into the creek.”
Other resident critters include native birds and frogs. Wooroomook itself is named after the indigenous tortoises that wander the local farmlands after rain.
Like all farmers, Ann-Marie and Carla work long hours. But they often invite friends for swims in the dams, and picnics. “It’s important to be connected to nature and animals,” reflects Ann-Marie. “This is not a lifestyle, it’s a life.”
