THE SOUTHERN
Part of the Farmer Group Rural Newspapers Covering Victoria Published since 1986
DECEMBER, 2016
GROWING SUBSTRATE STAWBERRIES
STRONG SHOWING AT BALLARAT
486 Whitehorse Road, Surrey Hills, 3127
FIRE AWARENESS, PREVENTION
Christmas tree farm with a family focus PAGES 8-9
PAGE 10
PAGES 18 - 20
By ALLISON COX
CHRISTMAS MEANS BUSINESS: Christmas is an exciting time for many, and for the Bowman family it is also a busy time. They operate the Sunbury Christmas Tree Farm, and Nathan Bowman has no trouble getting a hand from his children, Maya, Nadav and Leon, to prepare and decorate a tree.
CLOSE to Melbourne, Sunbury Christmas Tree Farm, run by Judith and Nathan Bowman, has been produced and sold Christmas trees for around 30 years. “My father started the business,” said Judith. “He came over here after the war. “He decided to put in some pine trees because we’re on the freeway. “(They were) going to be a bit of a visual barrier and stop the wind a little.” Pine trees were soon planted around the edges of the 30 acre farm, but the trees proved too attractive. When they started to grow, people stole them. “My father, ever the entrepreneur, decided there must be a market there,” said Judith. “He decided to start selling them.” From those unusual beginnings, a business was
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formed to sell trees to the public, and it is still going strong today. Judith and Nathan have run the farm for about 10 years. It is mostly a retail business, which sells Christmas trees directly to families. There are a few wholesale clients, but primarily the focus has been on retail sales. When Judith and Nathan took over the farm, there were challenges. “My husband was a city boy,” she said. “But since then he has learned to do all sorts of things; all the farm things that you need to do like set up irrigation, put in fences, fix pumps, a tractor, all of that and look after the trees.” This process involved a bit of trial and error, talking to experts and research on the internet.
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