History of Green Grove Organics

In 1962 Alan Druce became concerned about pollution in food production and set about taking steps toward pure food production which is now called organic farming.

This method of farming is based on the nurturing of our whole farm ecology, and treating it as an incredibly intricate, interdependent and fragile system that needs to be understood and cared for. Our logo, the hand, soil and grain, depicts farmers being caretakers of the ecology, to produce food.

Back in 1962 this was a radical move and didn't accompany the support that chemical free farming does today. As a result it was a difficult and solitary pursuit.

Very little research results were available, and financial premiums were non-existent. There was even a stigma attached to organic farming then.

All of these factors made the task even more difficult, but now as we look at entering the 21st century, "Green Grove" is coming into it's own. When most agriculture is dependent on chemicals, and the soils and the food products are labouring under this onslaught, the organic method is proving its worth.

Since 1987 "Green Grove" has had an association with the Australian National University (ANU) and is almost constantly being monitored and compared with conventional farming. The results of these tests are regarded as significant, sometime astonishing, to the point of "Green Grove" being regarded as one of the premier organic test cases in Australia, and indeed the world. (In July 1998 the "Green Grove" site was presented at the 7th International Conference of Ecology in Florence, Italy as a significant organic test site.)

Today the Druce family (now in their fourth generation on "Green Grove") enjoy the results of a long-standing organic conversion, and continue to seek ways and methods of better food production.