An introduction to Tathra Homestead...

originally written for Barossa Herald and published 13 August 2018
https://www.barossaherald.com.au/story/5577989/familys-farming-passion


Three generations of our family are involved in all aspects of the business: from picking olives to collecting eggs, labelling dukkah to hunting for the finest tomatoes. We love our life on the western side of the Barossa Valley in our own slice of paradise.

‘Tathra’ is an aboriginal word meaning ‘beautiful country’ and was chosen by Kim and Joy as the property’s name in 1991 when our family moved in. The 64-acre property was previously farmed, with cropping and sheep, along with chickens, turkeys, pigs and cows.

For nearly eight years, Kim researched tree crops including stone fruit, pome fruit and carobs, until settling on olive trees as being most suitable. During that time the family worked to reintroduce both plant and animal biodiversity to the property. We have seen some lovely results with the return of local flora and fauna.

Kim's brother, Craig, joined the Tathra Homestead partnership and the family moved forward to plant an olive grove of over 1000 trees and in 2005 we were excited to finally bottle our first vintage of extra virgin olive oil.

Today Tathra Homestead revolves around an olive grove, jars of moreish dukkah, vegetable garden, and our ladies, the free-range chickens.

We are proud to be a part of the Barossa food culture, being members of Barossa Food and have a weekly stall at the Barossa Farmers Market.