![]() ![]() ![]() “Not many working farms want to open up to the public, so people see the value in a farm with open doors and make the most of it,” says Karen. “That means Richard can go back and find the exact paddock the milk came from.”Īs Australia’s borders tentatively reopen post-pandemic, the plan is to host long lunches, workshops and events at the refurbished apple shed. “This milk has to be used within 24 hours of leaving the farm, and you can see it labelled here,” says Karen, pointing to a date on a semi-hard wedge of cheese. They work for Nick Haddow, who purchased the property a year earlier to better control the quality of the milk going into his Bruny Island Cheese Company products. The couple moved to Tasmania in 2017 after their UK farm tenancy ended. Just across the river, at the bottom of the property is Glen Huon Dairy, where Karen and Richard Butler tend to a different herd. Not that I can see much of the little cabin this morning, the pine-blanketed view slowly emerging from fairytale-like cloud. In the distance stands a quaint wooden house on the water’s edge, where guests can spot platypus. From one of the suites attached to her home, I look out over paddocks sloping gently towards the tannin-brown Huon River. This year, the Tasmanian government has injected millions of dollars into developing this sort of agritourism experience, but Julie was ahead of the curve when she started her business in 2018. Ranelagh is located at the gateway to the Huon Valley, a region known for its farms, fruit orchards and cool-climate wines. “They’re like a two-year-old child they’re gorgeous animals but they’ll push the boundaries.” True to form, when I stop to take a photo, Jasmine gives me a gentle nudge with her head, urging me to continue. I’m drawn to a shaggy, reddish-coated calf named Jasmine, whose glassy eyes close in delight with each brushstroke. “If you brush too softly, they’ll go to someone else who brushes harder,” she says. People visit her farm stay, Highland Getaway in Ranelagh, for the opportunity to brush the “giant grass puppies”, as she calls them. ![]() Julie Sade has a unique problem: her Highland cattle are too friendly. ![]()
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