Baw Baw Shire · Victoria

Many layers.
One living place.

A working farm in the hills of West Gippsland — shaped by forest, pasture, water, animals and the things we're learning along the way.

Explore Manna Grove
Welcome to Manna Grove
A place we're learning from, working with and slowly shaping.
Manna Grove is a working farm, but it is also an experiment in what can grow together in one place — cattle and pasture, forest and fungi, botanicals, wildlife and the things we make from them. Some projects will work. Some will change completely. We want to share both.
Happening now

What we're noticing

The farm changes quickly once you start looking closely. These are some of the stories unfolding here now.

Speckle Park Angus steers at Manna Grove
Cattle · Spring 2026

Meet the cattle

Sixteen Speckle Park × Angus steers are settling into Manna Grove — and changing the way we look at the pasture beneath them.

Misty track and pasture at Manna Grove
Land · Water

Where does the rain go?

Clay doesn't always mean poorly drained soil. We're watching how water moves through different parts of the farm.

Small mushroom on the forest floor at Manna Grove
Forest · Discovery

One of the smaller residents

The farm is shared with far more than the animals we put here. Sometimes the smallest things make us stop and look.

The farm

A landscape read in layers

Forest, pasture, water and cultivation overlap. None makes sense here without the others.

Forest edge and blossom at Manna Grove
01 / 04

Forest

Wet eucalypt forest, tree ferns, fallen timber, fungi and wildlife.

Cattle grazing at Manna Grove
02 / 04

Pasture

Ground cover, grazing, recovery and the changing shape of the paddocks.

Wet pasture and track at Manna Grove
03 / 04

Water

Rainfall, springs, drainage, dams and the places water wants to move.

Gate and working landscape at Manna Grove
04 / 04

Cultivation

Small trials, seasonal crops and new ideas tested against the reality of place.

What we're growing

Cultivation with patience

Not a catalogue of finished products — a record of what is being raised, tested and learned.

01

Cattle

Speckle Park × Angus steers, managed with calm handling and a growing focus on pasture recovery, reliable water and shelter.

02

Forest produce

Mushrooms, wasabi and ginseng — crops chosen for the cool shade, moisture and slower rhythm of the forest edge.

03

Botanicals

Mountain pepper, strawberry gum, anise myrtle and lemon myrtle — grown for fragrance, flavour and future small-batch goods.

04

Seasonal crops

Saffron and other crops that belong to a particular moment in the year, rather than being forced into every season.

Learning as we go

The questions are part of the story.

Soil + water

Does clay always drain slowly?

Pasture + cattle

How much pasture do 16 steers actually need?

Forest

What grows beneath a wet forest canopy?

Season

Where does frost settle across the farm?

Field Notes

A record of noticing

Short observations from the farm — the things we're trying, measuring, questioning and changing as we learn the place.

September 2026 · Cattle

Sixteen steers and a different way of seeing pasture

Bringing cattle onto the farm changes what you notice: wet ground, preferred grasses, recovery time and the uneven character of every paddock.

Field Note 005
September 2026 · Soil

What happens to rain once it hits the paddock?

Looking below the surface of clay-rich soil and learning why structure can matter as much as texture.

Field Note 004
September 2026 · Forest

Who else calls Manna Grove home?

Birds, fungi, insects and signs in the leaf litter are slowly becoming part of the way we read the property.

Field Note 003
From the farm

There is a lot still to discover here.

Follow the seasons, the experiments and the everyday work of Manna Grove.

Read the field notes