A plastic mesh fence around Nick Weber's corn patch was never going to keep out rabbits, but the free range egg farmer had an ace up his sleeve.
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He trucked in tonnes of compost from his brother-in-law's piggery near the Murray River at Finlay. "The corn grew too fast for the rabbits," Mr Weber says with a satisfied chuckle. "I thought the cockatoos would have a go at it, they haven't got it on their schedule."
Ripening into swollen, creamy yellow kernels, the corn is on restaurateur Briar Sydney's schedule, and high on the menu at a degustation brunch on April 10 to promote paddock-to-plate producers in Majura Valley and Pialligo.
"I want food to represent the whole valley, and to show people where their food is coming from," Mr Sydney said.
Mr Weber, his partner Anne McGrath and their children's cropping knowledge grew as quickly as the corn on a small patch of their farm on the Majura Road.
Plots are planted a month apart in November for a staggered yield from February to early April. Cobs are hand-picked sporadically to meet demand at the farm-gate alongside the eggs on Majura Road, and for restaurants and farmers markets.
"Corn is remarkable, it is so productive, it does not require any artificial protection," says Mr Weber.
Irrigation, compost and worm castings have created a little jungle of corn and weeds.
The farm also produces border Leicester/Dorset lambs which Bungendore butcher Paul Darmody processes. "People want traceability in their food, " Mr Weber says.
In between helping around the farm, their son Fred McGrath Weber has been studying commerce at the Australian National University, and working part-time at Parlour Wine Room and the Elk and Pea.
He hit on the idea of a degustation brunch, teamed up with Mount Majura Vineyard's sales and marketing marketing manager Fergus McGhie.
"We have Tanbella Orchard [Pialligo] on board. We will be swinging past the orchard to pick apples and taste fresh juice before continuing on to Mount Majura for wine tasting.
"I have a bit more knowledge of the area where I live, I know the neighbours, and what they can provide and can speak to my dad about what goes well together," he said.
Mr McGrath Weber says the more the valley is promoted, the more chance growers like his parents have of acquiring long-term leases in the valley, to invest in tourism and food.
He says the new Majura Parkway provides higher views of the free range chooks and he wants people to eat meals grown minutes away from the city.
"Grown in a rural setting that has been there for centuries and we hope will serve as a source for food for the community for years to come," he said.
