The Tallowood Grove story

Tallowood Grove is a family owned and run Macadamia orchard located in the lush sub-tropical climate of the NSW Mid-North Coast, nestled on the western slopes of Mount Yarrahappini (Yarriabini) in the southern edge of the Nambucca Valley – Gumbaynggirr country. Andrew and Kerrie Seccombe (horticulturalists by trade) established the farm in the early 1980’s on what was land overrun by weeds but fringed with native virgin rainforest. They replaced the weeds with 18,000 Macadamia trees, flooded gum and blue gumtrees and other native rainforest trees such as blue quandong and white beech.

Over the past 30 years they have built the plantation on strong principles of sustainability which are continually improved today by middle son Noah and youngest son Django. The farm is now a generational family business. After growing up on the farm, Noah has taken over management, and Django (an environmental engineer) has forged ahead with his value adding business, Django Macadamias.

Farm management dedicated to sustainable farming and an ideal sub-tropical climate allows Tallowood Grove to consistently produce among the largest and highest quality macadamias in Australia and the world. Today the forest ecosystem extends into the orchard, which is a lush and picturesque setting and home to koala habitats, wallabies, dingoes, turtles, water dragons, insects, bees, and a vast array of bird life. The 100 acres of bush serves as a wildlife corridor for animals up into Mount Yarrahappini (Yarriabini) Mountain.

Soil

The best Australian macadamias come from healthy trees that are nourished by healthy soil. Tallowood Grove is fortunate to sit on the rich volcanic soils of Mount Yarriabini. But we’re not in the business of harvesting from the land without giving back, it doesn't make for a sustainable business nor does it respect the needs of the wider ecological web. Tallowood Grove is managed with a philosophy of sustainability - if we care for the land, the land will care for us. One of our first operating principles is to preserve the rich endemic topsoil, by preventing erosion, using shade tolerant grass cover under the canopy, avoiding machinery use when the ground is wet, using light machinery and maintaining vegetation of steep gullies. To help protect endemic soil and build new topsoil, every year we compost fresh macadamia nut husks and spread them under the trees as a rich source of carbon. Annual prunings are also mulched and spread under the trees. In recent years we have started incorporating biochar (charcoal) into the topsoil. Biochar fixes carbon into the soil for thousands of years and the porous structure provides the perfect home for soil biology (microbes). Combined with its natural water holding capacity biochar can enhance the fertility of soils for thousands of years.

Water

Williamson’s Creek (an upper tributary to the Nambucca River) courses through the property. While the farm has an extraction licence, the trees have rarely been irrigated since planting began in 1988 because macadamias are indigenous to this region of Australian and are suitable for growing with minimal inputs such as irrigation. To further protect the local waterways, the riparian zone along the creek is maintained with thick natural vegetation and gullies across the property are maintained with grass cover which serves to protect against erosion.

Environment & Crop protection

At the farm we wanted to embrace more environmentally friendly and healthy practices, such as moving away from blanket spraying at the first sign of a pest. We also use a system which refrains from harming the beneficial insect world. For us, it’s all about awareness of natural biosystems and allowing them to work for us instead of continually disrupting them with inappropriate actions.

We have abundant goannas, snakes and pythons who help the owls and birds of prey to control any rats or mice. We have introduced the Trichogramma wasp that controls the Macadamia nut borer. Possums and sugar gliders are out and about at night feeding on nocturnal insects. We have hives of native bees who help pollinate our macadamia and virgin forest trees.

Sustainability

Our farm’s commitment to sustainability is holistic, starting with the soil, our management of water, how we use machines on the land, our approach to protecting our crop from damage, our choice of business partners right up to powering our farm and factory with solar energy.