Local farmer and landcare officiando Martin Royds is aiming to make Tombarra a regional centre for land management learning. At the January workshop Michael Jeffery and Alasdair McLeod from Cavan Station representing Soils For Life met with local Braidwood region landholders.

Also in attendance was Olivier Debuyst from Belgium, principal of NGO Regenacterre, who was on a fact-finding tour of Australia to see how the latest strategies for land rehabilitation in our region might be applied in his country.

Martin sees Tombarra’s potential as a venue for workshops with conference facilities and accommodation. It will also be available for weddings and family reunions.

Future workshops will demonstrate worm farms, straw-bale building, permaculture, bread making and sourcing local produce. Local food artisan Matthew Hulse will be on hand to provide the food complete with a comprehensive explanation of how it was all made.

Martin Royds has correctly identified the most pressing issue for today’s farmers as farm productivity. His aim is to provide a local venue where all aspects of modern farm management can be explored with an emphasis on practical demonstration.

Tombarra is 2km from Mongarlowe on Northangera Road. Go to www.tombarra.com.au or email tombarra1@bigpond.com (if any locals have historical pictures or stories about Tombarra, they would love to see them).

Caption:

Martin Royds shows what he’s achieved at Jillamatong to Michael Jeffery and Olivier Debuyst.