Happiness for Adrian Lynch is watching things grow.
The other thing that keeps him at the Wellington Point farm seven days a week is seeing people enjoy what has been grown.
Lynch may not have had a day off since Anzac Day this year, but every day is spent doing what he loves.
And that is tending 24 acres of lush red soil and watching strawberries, tomatoes and winter vegetables flourish. The season is almost at an end and when it does, he and his workers will prepare for the next one, preparing the soil, planting and waiting for the harvest.
“You have to make hay while the sun shines,” he said.
Lynch, 45, came to the Redlands when his parents moved from Victoria in 1991, immediately heading to Gatton to study horticulture. For a while he worked in Marlborough Road on a flower farm before striking up a business partnership in 2001 at the current site.
This was after the time when the Redlands was considered Brisbane’s salad bowl and when farmers were carving up their properties and making way for housing. As such this farm is one of the few servicing the locals direct from the soil to the plate. It is also the key player in strawberry production, something the Redlands is known for.
“Two things have happened. Shoppers buy for absolute convenience and there are those that like to see it growing. That’s why we don’t isolate the packing area from the shop. People can see the process,” Lynch said.
Lynch said his aim wasn’t just to grow produce, but to grow delicious produce.
“That’s especially true with the strawberry. You don’t get people talking about the taste of a sweet potato. The challenge with strawberries isn’t just to grow, but we want to grow one good enough to consume and worthy of getting excited about. The taste of a delicious, freshly picked strawberry can put some excitement back into your palate.”
“The Redlands has great growing conditions. It’s not just the soil. There is a perfect micro climate here. The humidity is just right. It’s not too hot like the western suburbs and it’s not too cold at night.”
Lynch said he prefered to farm the old fashioned way, observing a three-year rotation between his crops, for best growing conditions.
Redland City Bulletin profiled Adrian Lynch and the Wellington Point Farm to mark National Agriculture Day on November 21.
