How the Mussett family brought their regenerative farm to life at Colo Vale

When a family bought a plot of land just outside of Sydney, all they wanted was to grow some veggies, show their children where their food came from and to have a bit of space. But, soon it became much more.

Will and Connie Mussett with two of their children, Lisa and Eric.

A family business has blossomed from a side hustle at weekend markets into a sustainable regenerative farm with more 2000 chickens, 16 tonnes of mushrooms and farm tours.

Will and Connie Mussett bought an empty plot of land seven years ago in Colo Vale with no plans to become farmers, instead just wanting to grow some of their own food, show their children where their food comes from and to have a bit of space.

Mr Mussett had a fabrication business while his wife worked in the corporate world, but soon that all changed.

“I had someone approach me to take over their tiny chicken caravan they would do farmer markets with, but didn’t have time to look after,” Mr Mussett explained.

“He said ‘if you take this on, I’ll buy every egg off you’, and we thought ‘why not, let’s give it a go’.”

Will and Connie Mussett with their children, Lisa, 12, Eric, 9, and Harry, 6.

The family started with the 50 chickens in 2016 but within three months they expanded to 500 chickens and within six months after that 500 turned into 2000.

Mr Mussett said there was such a demand for the eggs and the flocks had drastically improved the soils on their property.

“The ground just exploded behind it,” he said.

The farm has rapidly expanded in the past six years.

“The chickens were just the first enterprise and we always knew when we started farming we didn’t want to have just one thing.

“Not long after, we started growing mushrooms because we were doing farmer’s markets and we wanted to offer variety.”

Now the mushrooms are the biggest output of the farm despite taking up the smallest space, and the Mussetts grow about 16 tonnes of specialty mushrooms every year.

Veggies and microgreens are now also grown on the farm, with beehives also added and another extension to the business has been farm tours.

“We have all these things and they all work together,” Mr Mussett said.

The Mussetts’ business has blossomed from a side hustle at weekend markets into a sustainable regenerative farm with more 2000 chickens, 16 tonnes of mushrooms and farm tours.

“The rejected vegetables go to the chickens, the chicken manure becomes compost to go back into the vegetable garden. The mushroom waste goes into giant worm farms which ends up in the vegetable garden. It all cycles around.

“The tours show people how you can go for a closed loop system.”

Mr Mussett said while he loved his business, it did not involve the family and that’s what drove home the decision to make the farm a full-time gig.

He said they hoped to lean more into the education side of things to show people how to establish sustainable systems in their own homes.

For more information about the farm, click here.