Gardens


“Tyirrima” is situated in Ravensbourne, South-east Queensland on the boundary between the rainforest/wet sclerophyll forests of the volcanic red soils, and the drier Queensland Blue Gum/Yellow Box woodlands of the brown-black volcanic loams. This boundary between forest/soil types is known as an ‘ecotone’… in the past we worked in the field of ecology and soon learned about the value of ecotones in terms of diversity when conducting flora-fauna surveys. These interfaces between different communities always seem to support the greatest variety of wildlife and plants… something we’ve noticed here too. But the diversity here extends further than just the native species that we’ve recorded on the property. In the broader picture “Tyirrima” is poised on the edge of the Great Dividing Range, between the quite humid climate of coastal South-east Queensland and the drier Darling Downs/Granite Belt area with its much cooler winters. As a result of living in this 'ecotone' in terms of soil/vegetation, as well as climate, we have the best of both worlds… and so are able to grow a wide range of plants from the sub-tropical and temperate zones. Pineapples and papaws grow beside cherries and berries… certainly not all of them boasting optimum productivity, but we do get crops from them all in most years… and in between these extremes there is an impressive range of fruits that thrive. Our main commercial crop is garlic.

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