The Farm
A little bit about Lily Pily
Lily Pily is a 30 acre farm in Mary Valley behind Noosa.
The farm was originally a large 350 acre block used for cattle which was divided about 10 years ago into individual plots. Previous owners created expansive dams for water storage and built a shed for machinery. We purchased the farm in 2020 and have been working tirelessly with a dream in mind to regenerate the land (which is overgrown with a nasty grass and bracken fern) and poor degraded soil into a rich biodiverse property that allows many species of birds, wildlife and domestic animals to live and help us in our aims of restoring the land. Further more we aim to nourish our local community with our fruit and vegetables. Three years in and we have over 100 fruit trees in the ground (the citrus grove, stone fruit orchard and tropical fruit almost complete) with another 200 to go including the much anticipated olive grove. The market gardens will begin its first commercial season in 2024 with an aim to have a 50 box subscription within a few years. On top of this we need a place to live, so have worked countless hours with blood, sweat and lots of creative resources to turn a shed into a home for our family and this will be completed in 2024. A caretaker cottage is then on the cards as well as accommodation for future interns. The future holds a place for grazing animals (the beloved dream of a flerd) to help us on our journey but for now its just the family, the cat, the dog and the chickens.
Why the name Lily Pily for our farm?
The farm is named in honour and memory of our beautiful Niece Lily who was tragically killed in an accident in 2019. It was the death of Lily that reminded us to go after our dreams and know what is really important to our family. After Lily's death our family sat around a table and asked each other, what do we want to do? Where do our hearts lie? What legacy are we leaving behind? The box of dreams we had been carrying with us over the years came out on the table and it was unanimous. We wanted our own farm.....a place where we could heal, and be stewards of a piece of land and have an income doing what we loved.
Through a series of literal miracles and in the middle of a pandemic, this land found us and we moved our family into the old empty shed and with big, big vision have begun working on creating the reality of Lily Pily Farm.
We named the farm after Lily Pily, as that was our nickname for our niece. She was a vibrant soul with the voice of an angel. But it wasn't that stands out for us. We remember her as the girl who loved animals, who loved and cherished her family and. She was kindness and goodness was pursuing her dream of being a singer when she left us. She was fiercely loyal and loved her family. So this farm is one where we practise the art of following your dreams, of looking after animals and nourishing our family. Every time we tell the story of how the farm came to be, we think of her and keep her memory alive.