Abruzzo Farm

10/12/2025

Sadly we lost 3 chickens and 8 chicks to this quoll last week. I knew he/she would be back, so set up the camera and have disabled the auto door for the moment. They are beautiful, powerful and cunning, but I would much prefer them to stay away from the hen house 😭

10/10/2025

Tasmania has been copping a frightful storm today, power outages across the state 20k + impacted, we have had 75km/hr gusts while other areas closer to 100km/hr. A break in the weather so I got to move the cows to the next strip grazing paddock and realised we had a dead electric fence… not 10m from where the last trees fell is another one, and then on the other boundary 2 trees fell, thankfully just a single branch resting on the fence. Just hoping the cows respect the performative look of an electric fence.

06/09/2025

When you think you have a relaxing Sunday morning planned, nothing urgent, all tasks up to date, then your morning drone flight says NO… new fence, I might shed a tear 😢 while I get my chainsaw ready

03/09/2025

Our latest project, Anaïs’s cubby house. It doesn’t have a pool or bathroom as outlined in the clients’ requirements (5 yr olds!!), but it has pretty much everything I ever wanted in my dream cubby. This is the progress over March, April and May

04/08/2025

5 years and our first sighting of a platypus in our dam. Terrible photo but pretty excited watching is flit around during daylight hours.

31/07/2025

Lambing is in full swing, 21 so far. Led as usual by Chocolate Milk with a super cute set of twins.

24/06/2025

Thanks for the opportunity to share the joys and challenges of farming with family.

👩‍🌾👶 Panel Spotlight: The Ultimate Juggle – Parenting & Farming 🐓🧸

Vanessa Hall, Fraser Bayley & Sonja Ralph

Small-scale farming is not just a job—it’s a lifestyle. For farming parents, the boundaries between work, family, and self are porous at best. There’s immense beauty in raising kids close to the land, but also real challenges in balancing childcare, farm schedules, income pressures, and personal well-being.

This panel will see honest conversations on parenting while growing food and running a farm. We dig into the complex, messy, joyful, and often exhausting reality of raising children while running a small-scale farm. It’s not just about logistics—it’s about identity, relationships, safety, creativity, burnout, and resilience. It aims to normalise the chaos, celebrate the wins (big and small), and share the load through collective wisdom.

🎙 Featuring:

Vanessa Hall, Abruzzo Farm (TAS)
Fraser Bayley, Old Mill Road Farm (NSW)
Sonja Ralph, Constance Farm (TAS)

Facilitated by Felicity Richards, this is one for the parents, the carers, and anyone doing the juggle.

📍 Moonah Arts Centre
🗓️ Sunday 22 June
🎟 Tickets via: www.sprout.org.au/events/cross_pollinate

09/05/2025

Thursday morning snow made an appearance on Mount Roland and the Western Tiers. Of course I still couldn’t convince my daughter to wear a jacket 🥶

30/04/2025

Saying goodbye to our last TPC order, thank you for all your support and encouragement, Marcus for the pickup, and to all the volunteers who have made this possible. On the bright side, we got to enjoy the briskness of winter’s final arrival to Deloraine. ❄️ ❄️

28/04/2025

An exciting collaboration with one of our neighbours, we have the land and water, he has the skills and experience. It also happens to be one of our favourite crops. We can’t wait to be sharing our garlic with your tables at the end of the year. 🧄 ❤️

06/04/2025

Yesterday we had terrible gusty weather, the three of us could not move the sheep to the next field, gave up as they were getting worked up. This morning over coffee I thought I would try again with the drone. SUCCESS :) even better when your neighbour shuts the gate behind them and you didn’t have to leave the house.

28/03/2025

REDUCED
Two quiet Highland X, born 2023
$375 each or $700 for the pair

Heifer: Bull - Black Highland (second photo), Cow - Highland x Hereford
Steer: Bull - Black Highland (second photo), Cow - Belted Galloway

Located Weegena, Tasmania (near Deloraine)
Trailer loading access, NLIS tagged