In spring and summer most of us can go to the back door or a pot in a sunny place and clip ourselves some parsley or thyme, but the call for fresh herbs does not stop in winter. Some herbs are notoriously difficult to grow – Ian “Herbie†Hemphill has called coriander the “heartbreak herb†because he fields more questions on difficulties in growing it than on any other herb. Others are hard to come by – try finding a packet of tarragon seeds.
Fortunately for us, Ivory Fields herb farm near Scamander keeps up a supply of fresh herbs year-round, including those ones that are not easy to grow at home.
Ivory Fields has been a commercial herb farm for about six years. It is on flats alongside Four Mile Creek, and it’s believed Chinese market gardeners who used to supply mines with fresh vegetables may have called the area Ivory Flats.
Ivory Fields was the name of the farm when Stan and Christina Oleszkiewicz (pronounced Olla-ska-vich) bought it three years ago, attracted, said Christina, by “working in a beautiful place with nature and fresh herbsâ€.
Twelve months ago, the couple added en suite bathrooms to rooms in the big house, a sauna and a spa, employed a chef and opened the big house to visitors.
The gardens and hothouses also provide vegetables and salad greens for the Ivory Fields kitchen.
Christina said growing herbs at Ivory Fields occupies about 10 people 24/7 365 days of the year, and all the produce is sold fresh and in Tasmania.
Demand increases in spring and summer as salads become more popular. The “difficult†herbs, coriander and basil, are the most popular; lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves are picking up, and sage has become very popular, which Christina cannot explain, except to say “we have gorgeous sageâ€.
Christina and Stan use no chemicals or sprays to grow basil, bay leaf, coriander, chives, curry leaf, dill, kaffir lime leaf, lemon grass, lemon thyme, marjoram, mint, oregano, flat and curly-leaf parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon and thyme.
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