Open Garden: Kalano Community Farm

An indigenous-run business about three hours’ drive from Darwin is the only commercial tomato grower in the NT.

Workers at Kalano Community Farm tend the tomato plants.

Katherine, Northern Territory

Rick Fletcher, chief executive, Kalano Community Association

Rob Gordon, farm manager

DESCRIBE THE FARM: We’re an indigenous-run business on good fertile ground along the Katherine River, about three hours’ drive from Darwin.

We’re the only commercial tomato grower in the Northern Territory, and we sell everything we can produce, having built a reputation for quality. This year we put in 4.5ha of tomatoes, which we plant from April and harvest until the end of October, as well as 10ha of sweet corn.

All five full-time supervisors are indigenous and they run their own parts of the operation and their own crews. People in the rehabilitation centre and other programs help with the picking, packing, planting and harvesting. We’re helping to develop a work culture that gives job satisfaction and pride for the workers and their families.

WHAT MAKES IT SPECIAL: Because we’re so close to our market we don’t have to pick the tomatoes prematurely.

When fruit is ripened naturally it’s the sweetest ever. It’s on the shelf within a day or two of picking and sells out quickly because locals know our produce and look for it. The fertile soil, water and climate are all perfect; we can get 30kg of fruit from one tomato plant.

BIGGEST CHALLENGES: We have only a 20-week season, which is tough for cashflow. By November it’s so hot the tomato plants stop flowering and the pulp temperature can reach 45C, making them unsell­able. They can go from green to over-ripe in just 12 hours. After the tomatoes finish we pull out the entire infrastructure and sow sorghum. Each year we prepare a new area for tomatoes, and every hectare requires 5km of drip pipe to keep the tomato plants watered, plus 1200 steel posts and 55km of wire to train them on.

HOW HAS IT DEVELOPED? Rob Gordon: I came here in 2010 from farming in South Australia. I’m a whitefella who hates the cold. We did a trial, as I thought we could really improve the quality of fresh vegetables available here by growing them within indigenous communities.

Rick Fletcher: We developed a business plan, got some funding from the Indigenous Land Corporation, invested our own funds and secured buyers. We have a fantastic relationship with Woolworths; they helped us buy our grading machine and packing line. They’re our main customer and are really committed to us.

MOST PROUD OF: Rob Gordon: Seeing indigenous locals take on the challenge of farming and succeeding. It’s not an easy life. They have natural skills because they’re very conscious of those little things in nature that indicate when something is not quite right. They pick up problems way before I do.

WHAT’S IN THE FUTURE: We’re looking at growing sweet corn all year, as the trial we did last year was successful. And we’re installing four covered growing tunnels that use hydroponics. The first two are happening in the next 12 months and each will hold 1000 plants.

This type of system will let us grow other crops all year, possibly chillies and eggplants, to help even out our cashflow. We’d eventually like to support more people in full-time work and increase training opportunities.