G’day everyone,
It’s been a while since I’ve written a newsletter, so I thought it was high time to give you all an update.
Half of our farm has now sold, and we are getting closer to selling the other half. So we’ll still be around for a few more months yet, but in the background the transition has already begun. The new owners of SoHip have completed the earthworks and concreting for what will become the new home of the SoHip operation, and we’ve already started moving coolroom panels across to Nicole and Luke’s farm in Moorland.
Before going any further, I have to say that the ongoing support and loyalty you’ve all shown us through this period has been unwavering. I truly don’t have the words to describe how overwhelmingly grateful we feel to know that this community has such strong bonds.
It seems the glue that holds us together are the core values we individually and collectively cherish. Food that nourishes every organism, every cell, every part of Mother Nature — our bodies, the soil, the ecosystem, and everything that survives and thrives within it.
Couple that with a deep belief that we must continue supporting small, family-run businesses, or risk falling victim to the increasing monopolies that price-gouge in times of uncertainty and unrest. When convenience and the lowest price become the only priorities, we slowly leave ourselves with fewer choices — and many of us are beginning to realise the bed we’ve helped make is not one we wish to lie in.
With all that is happening in the world today, it feels good to know that when we support each other — when we look after our family, our neighbour, and our community — and when we focus inward rather than outward, there is very little that can bring us down.
When our attention shifts to the people around us instead of the endless stream of events delivered to the palm of our hands every minute of the day, we realise there is far more that unites us than divides us.
In fact, if you haven’t seen much of us on social media lately, that’s largely the reason. I simply can’t stand the noise and the influence that seeps into the mind from that tiny screen — powerful only if we allow it to be.
Know this: a truly organic system is the same system that has been used to grow food for thousands of years. It is a way of farming that was never reliant on oil or synthetic chemicals. Yes, modern tools like a diesel-powered tractor can make the work more efficient and reduce the labour required from humans and animals, but the underlying system is one that sustains itself in perpetuity.
A truly organic system is one that can continue feeding us for as long as this earth orbits the sun.
And in times like these, you don’t feel like such a fool for believing in it.
Swimming against the current takes its toll. There have been many times I’ve been bent over in the heat of a summer day with an aching back, thinking how much easier life would be if I could just spray a herbicide and finish in a few minutes what might otherwise take a full day’s work.
There have been times when patience wore thin waiting for life in the soil to return — when I could have easily bought a bag of fertiliser and achieved instant results.
But through your support, that patience and that extra effort are repaid again and again by nature’s generous and abundant response.
After 6 years of loving our soil, it no longer needs anything more than rays of sunlight and drops of rain to grow vegetables rich with nutrients. A quick cover crop to feed the microbes in the soil and where ready to grow the next lot of vegetables without any inputs.
The last six years have left no doubt in my mind: there has never been a time when the earth would not feed the human race and the creatures we share this planet with. Famines were not caused by nature. They never have been. Famines have always been born of ignorance by humans.
I apologise if the tone of this newsletter feels a little dark, but it shouldn’t be seen that way.
What you are supporting is a ray of sunshine breaking through an ominous sky.
When the world feels peaceful and stable, it’s easy to take things for granted. It’s easy to feel foolish about supporting a way of farming that might not seem to make a difference in your lifetime.
But when uncertainty appears on the horizon — when things feel less certain than they did yesterday — it becomes clear that what you believed in all along may be more important than ever.
From our whole family here at SoHip — including the new owners Nicole and Luke, who are also family — we sincerely thank you for your support, your love, and your kindness.
We will repay your trust in equal measure.
Have a great week, and enjoy that small ray of sunshine we deliver to your door or store this week!
