Kate Serrurier’s self-sufficient lifestyle through farming, foraging and fossicking at Cremona Hillside
A Mount Bolton woman who is committed to living with less impact is spruiking the philosophy of the four F’s: farming, foraging, fossicking and frugavoring.
KATE Serrurier knows better than most how one person’s trash can be another one’s treasure.
The Mount Bolton farmer has adopted a very self-sufficient and anti-consumerist lifestyle, and thinks more people could learn from the four Fs she lives by: farming, foraging, fossicking and frugavoring.
While not a commonly used term, Kate said frugavoring was about “sharing the abundance we already have with one another.”
“It’s about being frugal, without being stingy, living well on very little,” she said.
“[The four Fs] is about living on as little as possible, without waste and making do with repairing things or using what you have rather than buying new,” she said.
“I just think at the moment it’s imperative that we do what we can in order to not destroy the planet,” she said.
She has cattle, sheep, a variety of poultry, donkeys and goats on her 46ha property, Cremona Hillside. She roadside forages for wild berries, fruits and vegetables; and is skilled in finding treasures strewn on nature strips.
“People throw out a lot of good stuff on the roadside — I found a pasta-making machine the other day complete with warranty,” she said.
Mrs Serrurier said she has been living under this philosophy her whole life, and is encouraged by the many people she sees around who are like her.
“There are a lot of young people approaching me to learn and willing to teach me things,” she said.
“There are lots and lots of people doing it and lots of support for living a more frugal lifestyle out there.”
Kate says she has lots of friends who are farmers who also live off the land in similar ways and love that lifestyle.
“If you have your own milk, kill on farm for meat and can grow your own grain — you don’t want for much. You’ve always got good food,” she said
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