MAKING A MARK

WITH IMPRINT FARMS, ANGELA CLEARY AND HER FAMILY HAVE PUT THEIR INDELIBLE STAMP ON THIS PART OF VICTORIA

- Jana Holmer

Imprint Farms is a small but intensely productive enterprise located in Heathmere in the southwest of Victoria, near the beautiful coastal town of Portland.

Traditional owners the Gunditjmara people are renowned for their early aquaculture development at nearby Lake Condah. Imprint Farms, by contrast, is noted for its honey, sourdough, cured meats and homemade preserves; at least one of its 10 acres is given over to vegetable gardens.

Among the souls who live there are Angela Cleary, her son Jack, his fiance Sarah and their baby Keith, plus many feathered, fleecy and furry friends.

They include two rescue donkeys called Rusty and Danny plus a retired Welsh Mountain Pony, once breeding stock for children’s saddle ponies. Pet pig Pickles is in charge of composting and manure — the ducks help as well — while the chickens turn over the garden and provide eggs.

There are around 40 beehives on the property producing honey with a clear, rich golden colour and a smooth redgum flavour. It’s less aromatic than Jarrah but the healing honey Angela harvests is much sought after in the region.

Angela also breeds Corriedale and Leicester sheep. She sells the wool all over Australia, spun and naturally dyed by her mum Kerry, who markets it on a Facebook page called Darling MADE it.

The family has deep roots in this fertile region. Grandmother Jenny Agnes was a dairy farmer in Gorae West, a little closer to Portland. A mother of six, she grew potatoes and turned pulped newspaper into bricks to light the fire. “Eat what you grow” was her motto, so naturally she made stinging nettle soup.