Egg producer Theresa Robinson of Bum Nuts Australia in Gunning has begun a journey into regenerative agriculture.
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A paddock, about 100 acres, was rested for 18 months. Chooks roam free in the paddock, but graze only about 15 per cent of it, Mrs Robinson said.
Mrs Robinson said that by closing the paddock, a diverse species of plants was re-establishing, and it had attracted an abundance of insects. The soil was also storing the moisture for longer.
“There are two beautiful plants that I haven’t seen before,” Mrs Robinson said. This included a Convolvulus erubescens, or Blushing Bindweed: “Indigenous Australians used the tuba root and boiled it and kneaded it into a dough," she said.
The other, Glycine Tabacina, was chewed. the tap-roots have a flavour like liquorice.
"There is an abundance of grasshoppers and butterflies which were attracted, and for the chickens it is a good natural source of protein," Mrs Robinson said.
In between chickens, there are also sheep on the 1000-acre property; they choose to rest paddocks and cell-graze.
