About us

Hi, we are the Wicks family. Matt & Melissa, 'kids' Zara & Danny & Vida our Hungarian Vizla.

The concept of Sanctuary Farmstead has been ticking along in our minds for far too many years to count. We wanted somewhere close to town, with some old trees and a creek. We finally found and purchased our farm in 2017 at Norong, just out of Rutherglen, Victoria on Pangerang land.

Our mission is to create a regenerative farm that produces delicious food and heals the soil. We are also revegetating the land to provide sanctuary to our native flora and fauna.

We will be completely off grid, partly due to the prohibitive costs of connecting to the grid but more so because that is what we always felt we would do.

We are farming regeneratively, healing and improving the soils while growing nutrient dense food. We have many projects lined up and there will be lots of trial and error, mistakes and successes, but that's what makes it fun, right?

Come along with us and join our story of creating a regenerative farm.

Regenerative Farming

To farm regeneratively means to use a system of farming principles and practices that aim to increase biodiversity, enrich soils, retain water on the property and enhance ecosystems.

Regenerative farming also helps to capture carbon in the soil profile as well as in aboveground biomass.

To help us regenerate our soils, we have a small herd of pure bred Australian Lowline Cattle. This breed of cattle has a lower impact on the ground as they are a smaller animal, helping to reduce soil compaction. We manage our cattle by grazing them in smaller paddocks and moving them daily. By doing so we have healthier animals, healthier plants and fewer parasites.

The cattle also help to cycle nutrients into the soil by eating the grass, leaving their manure behind and pushing this into the soil with their hooves. This results in more carbon sequestration, better water retention and more microbial diversity.

In spring 2020 we will be welcoming the arrival of our first calves. Check our Instagram or Facebook feeds for updates.

For more information on people and practices that influence our farming click on the links below: