Sister teams behind Violet Town produce store, Dunkeld’s Terra clothing
Meet Violet Town’s own version of McLeod’s Daughters, who not only run the family farm but have also opened a produce store in town. And they aren’t the only ones finding their ideal business partner in their siblings.
BOHO has its own version of McLeod’s Daughters.
Sisters Donna, Lou and Mel Jackson all admit they had not imagined they would be working on their family’s farm outside Violet Town at this stage of their lives.
But drenching sheep, buying bulls, building fences and checking the back paddocks are now part of daily life for the trio, now the fifth-generation of their family’s property, where they live with their mum, Denise, and Lou’s daughter Ruby.
“Dad used to say to me instead of travelling overseas, why haven’t you seen the back paddock?” says Donna.
“We have well and truly seen every corner of the back paddock now.”
It’s easy to wonder whether they would have ended up where they are had their dad, Gavan, not passed away from motor neurone disease at just 57 years of age. The father of six — three boys, three girls — had involved all his children in farm work and life from when they were kids, something his girls acknowledge is not always the case for farmers’ daughters.
Nowadays it is an “all-girl show” on the farm, which is just less than 400ha and currently runs 75 breeding Angus cattle and a flock of 1100 Merino sheep, mostly fine wool bred, with a small prime lamb production.
“We’re busy, but we make it work,” says Lou, as the sisters explain how they divide farm labour (while they contract in shearers and crutchers, most of the work they do themselves).
They say farming is still “a bit of a boys club”, and that some of their practices — such as keeping some livestock as pets, something their dad also did — can raise eyebrows.
But they have had plenty of support from friends and are always picking the brains of their fellow farmers. There is one in particular, a family friend, who has been on hand to help whenever they need advice, education or for a job they can’t manage alone.
Initially the sisters were splitting their time between full-time work and the farm, but these days their time off the farm is spent at their other business, Jackson’s Produce Store.
Taking inspiration from other providore-type stores they had visited, their shop in Violet Town’s main street is a burst of colour upon entry, with fresh fruit and vegetables, local produce, art and giftwares. Where possible they try to source goods locally. “The concept was we would be a local produce store, but knowing that you can’t get a lot of local produce all the time, like when you talk about the fruit and vegies,” Lou says. “Then we started to layer on with superfoods, and organics, and the cheeses.”
The store was opened in 2018, but moved to its current premises on the other side of the road last February. (“All the local blokes helped move everything across the road on a Saturday,” mum Denise laughs).
They say the shop has also become a place for farmers to talk shop — what is happening around the district, at the saleyards, with the season and so forth — and the sisters can be a friendly ear or up for a laugh when people need to debrief.
“We also use it as a way for us to learn more (from the farmers who come in) because we know we could learn every day,” says Donna.
And the Jacksons are about to expand their skills further — they have leased part of the shop next door and plan to open a smoothie and juice bar cafe.
“I didn’t think this was ever going to be what I was doing, and I love it because you have so much freedom,” Mel says. “We might yell and scream at each other but we’re always there for each other.
“It’s a great dynamic, and you get off the farm by coming in here — you get a break from looking at brown grass or no water in dams and things like that (especially in drought because it is bad) and feeding stock, carting water and all those things. But we do it, because you think every day is a blessing to be able to do it.”
Donna agrees, adding “You have got a responsibility to the animals, and your land.”
Sisters enter new Terra-tory
RUNNING a business with your sister is “like running a business with your childhood best friend”, says Kel Sommerville.
Kel and sister Em, from the Grampians region, have combined a love of creating with a passion for the environment in their clothing label.
Through Terra (which started in 2016 as Folktribe Clothing — they rebranded last year) they now make clothing to order from hemp fabric.
Em says the rise of sustainable fashion in general since they began has been “amazing”, but some education was required at times — she says they have been asked if hemp is like hessian, or if it can be smoked (“we have had that question more than once”).
“As far as I can tell, and looking at stats of people searching for ethical and sustainable fashion, it’s definitely rising very quickly, and I don’t think it’s just fashion — I think people are becoming more conscious of the impact they’re having on the planet.”
They hope the business will become a full-time occupation, Em says, and they are making about four to five garments a week.
While Em works in Hamilton as an architect graduate, Kel, who lives in Dunkeld where the sisters grew up, works for Forest Fire Management from Halls Gap.
“I feel proud to be home and to be able to do something like this
at our home. For us, the Grampians and Dunkeld, it’s more than just home, it’s where our heart is,” Em says.
“People often think, ‘oh you can’t do it out in the regional areas’, but it’s amazing, I feel really privileged to run our business from home and be able to do what we do.
“I don’t feel hindered by not being in the city — we’re only three hours from Melbourne if we really need to go do something, or want to go.”
And Kel, whose work experience in a hand-printed textile business during university helped spur her into her own sustainable fashion brand, says “I’ve always loved creating things and I’ve always loved seeing that creative process … and bringing something to life”.
“We just get along really well.
If we can travel together in South America, I think we can navigate a business together,” Kel says.
“We’ve gone through a lot together and gone through a lot with the business together, so it has been … I can’t even put a word on it because it has been so nice to be able to do something like that with your sister.”
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