Local Farmer Profile - Prisca du Ressac from Star Nature

Can you introduce yourself to our Santos Organics Community?

My name is Prisca du Ressac, I have lived in the Byron Shire since 1999 when I started to shop at Santos, and I became a share holder some time after that. I have always grown some of my food, especially since moving on a farm in Coorabell but while my children were at school, I had a career as a translater/interpreter. An injury got me to stop this activity as it became impossible for me to use a computer. Since I had been heading the Garden Club at the Bangalow School for many years, teaching kids about permaculture and running some of the Kids in the Kitchen programs, I decided to go back to study for a Certificate IV in Permaculture at the Mullumbimby Community College to then start re-enliven the farm where I live and turn its operation into a non-profit organisation called Star Nature. It made sense I should also start providing Santos with some of my produce.

What are you currently growing on your farm?

Avocados, mandarins, lemons, bananas, papayas, Brazilian cherries, pecans, yams, taros, pepinos, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, salads, spinach, parsley, coriander, basil, tulsi, shiso, yams, eggplants, chilli, chokos, pumpkins, cassava, tamarillos, wild raspberries, garlic, aloe vera, dahlias and other edible flowers like borage, nasturtiums and heartsease.

Do you have a star crop?

Avocados!

Apart from being organic, what other alternative methods of farming do you use?

I follow permaculture principles on my farm.

What do you love about farming?

Being in nature actively producing organic food in a sustainable way.

Can you share one of your favourite ways to use something you grow for good health or healthy living?

I love making things out of yams, for example. They are so good for us and so under utilised while loving our sub-tropical climate. I also make skin lotion with aloe vera and borage and evening primrose.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

I’m still in a big process at the farm but I’m looking forward to be ready to offer gardening classes to children.