At Birdland we are passionate about organic farming, seed production, and local food that prioritises quality and diversity.
Birdland Seeds started out innocently enough in Wallington, Victoria on a beautiful 5 acre property when founder Ben Cohen started growing organic veggies for no particular reason except a passion for growing organic veggies. To avoid wasting all those amazing Brown Beauty bush beans and no plan to sell them fresh the seed was saved. And another seed was sown…
As the saying goes ‘from little things big things grow’. 10 years later Birdland Seeds continues to expand. The catalogue now consists of over 100 varieties, 70% of which are grown by Birdland Seeds. The remainder are sourced from other certified organic farms.
We are currently growing certified organic seed on 2 properties: Emily Hill Farm located in Dewhurst, Victoria and the Dingle Farm in Drysdale, Victoria.
Emily Hill Farm is the Keon-Cohen family farm. Ben’s parents Sue and Chester started this farm some 35 years ago growing organic blueberries. The farm has diversified over the years and family involvement now spans 3 generations. Production currently includes blueberries, citrus, garlic, and vegetable seed. EHF has been certified organic for over 25 years.
Through a spontaneous conversation with Chris at Tuckerberry Blueberry Farm Ben Cohen and Matt Dingle began considering potential organic production at Matt’s farm in Drysdale. The Dingle family farm is now certified organic.
Besides seed production, Birdland Seeds has set up an intensive market garden and trials ground. Fresh organic produce, now in full production, serves the surrounding local community with super high quality, organic and nutrient dense veggies. This is proving to be an ideal trials ground for confirming the seed quality and variety selections for Birdland Seeds.
Looking ahead, we are inspired to be expanding at the new Drysdale property. Besides providing local organic food for the community and more seed production, we plan to provide mentoring, training and workshops on site. In this way we can promote and facilitate more local food resilience and production. We will announce more details about this soon!
Fresh organic food, in season, grown locally, with excellent flavour and nutritional qualities supports vibrant health and strong immune systems. Buying locally allows you to help your community’s economy and reduce the environmental costs associated with food miles.
Our new market garden is also being set up to serve as a model for intensive, small scale food production. We see that there are opportunities for these systems to be set up and run as profitable businesses that serve their surrounding communities.