In 2008, our family of four lived in a 2 bedroom townhouse in Melbourne, a city of over 4 million people.Now we live at Hazeltree Farm.
Hazeltree Farm is a small farmlet in Wingatui, on the South Island of New Zealand, just 15 minutes out of Dunedin.
Since moving to Hazeltree in early 2010, we have added over 40 fruit and nut trees to the property.
We've also added a rooster, and a family of ducks seem to have become permanent guests.
Plans include large extensions of the orchards in coming seasons, the establishment of an olive grove, and the installation of a woodlot.
Other news: We hope to become a WWOOF host later this year, and will be building our own top bar beehives with the Dunedin Locavores group and starting with honeybees!
You can read more about our journey here: From city to farm: the three year journey of Cluttercut.
About Leanne Daharja
"Happiness can't be bought or sold, but it can be found."
I'm a happily married 41 year old Mum of two young children - son (7) and daughter (5).
I have qualifications in English, Software Engineering and Politics, and have had a productive career as a technical and freelance writer before becoming an organic farmer.
I've also worked as a teacher, spent 3 years in the Australian Army Reserves (Signals), been key facilitator and workshop leader in a number of women's spirituality and personal development groups, and am an ex-elite competitive rower and swimmer.
A fun fact about me is I'm an undefeated (now retired) champion beer sculler in the Australian Choral Intervarsity. I held the Womens Individual Title for about a decade, having conquered every city's festival. I also won the Men's Individual Title two years - in 1999 (Hobart) and 2000 (Brisbane) - although the men delicately called it the "Open" title the years I won ;-) These days I only compete in team events, to give new talent a go. My fastest recorded and verified (on camera) time to scull a beer from lock to downfall of glass with no spillage is 1.61 seconds (the Hobart Intervarsity Open (Men's) Final 1999).
When not on the farm these days, I can be found composing. My compositions have been performed all around the world - if you sing in choir, you might have performed my work!
I've also got a keen interest in bodybuilding, and you'll often find me lurking around our local gym, working up a sweat.
I believe our lives are only limited by what we can imagine. I have never found the limits to my imagination yet.
