Zac was brought up in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia on the family sheep and wheat property. Zac’s short life as a farmer ended at the age of 12 when he went to boarding school, a time that coincided with the sudden death of his Dad, which saw Zac and his family leave the farm for good. Twenty plus years later Zac decided he wanted to ‘have a crack’ at farming – suiting perfectly, because being his own boss and working within nature are his true calling.
Zac courageously relocated his young family across the country in 2013 to start a business in a field largely unknown to him – organic sweet potato growing. He barley ate the product, let alone knew how to produce large quantities of it.
Zac learns through practice. He loves getting his hands dirty (literally) and thrives being in amongst the action. Within a week of landing in QLD he’d bought a tractor and started preparing the land for his first ever sweet potato crop. Through the devastating loss of one of their crops Zac now grows more variety in produce to ensure he not only survives, but thrives in the organic farming industry.
You’ll most likely find him somewhere on the farm in his trusty tractor.
When Anika tragically lost her mum to illness in 2012 her death sparked the decision to live life on purpose and in full.
Anika is a Women’s Transformation Coach, plant medicine enthusiast, yogi and lover of all things nourishing, wholesome, connected and slow. Her vision with organic farming has been to supply affordable organic produce at farmer’s markets and to welcome women to the land for unique events that focus on connection, stillness and space.
Anika and her brother launched a farmer’s market business to sell produce in Brisbane and Toowoomba and this continues to be a thriving and enjoyable part of Anika’s role at Spring Lakes Farm. And in 2019, the vision Anika held in her mind’s eye for over 5 years came to fruition with the first ever Day Retreat on the farm.
When not at the markets or holding retreats you’ll find Anika in the office covering all areas of administration and finance, the organic certification, advertising and marketing – basically anything that requires sitting behind a computer. She’s also a regular in the field, packing shed and in the greenhouse tending to the best cherry tomatoes that will ever explode in your mouth.
Darcy has a quick step and incredibly active mind which is super relaxed and happy in wide open spaces. He loves to be bare footed, dirt covered and roaming free but enjoys spending as much time at the farm as he can. He’s quickly becoming a great little helper taking on important roles like planting sweet spuds for hours at a time. When he grows up he wants to be a dairy farmer, but stipulates a requirement that his Dad does it alongside him.
Olivia enjoys everything about the farm but prefers to be in the packing shed wearing rubber gloves and a pretty dress. She likes being the button controller on the sweet potato washer and is really good at hosing things down. She loves riding her bike and playing in the dam and has always been a lover of the dirt. Livvy has a stash of dresses she can roam in on the farm because she believes shorts and trousers simply aren’t suitable. She’s creative and sweet and lives a pretty magical and imaginative life on the farm.
Dinei was brought up on a rural property in Brazil and came to Australia in 2008 where he’s worked on farms ever since. His upbringing saw his work ethic well established before he hit his teens and he arrived at Spring Lakes Farm right before the devastating loss of the 2015 sweet potato crop. His duties of harvesting and packing sweet potatoes were cut to a sudden nothing and forecast of his role had been taken away with the non-existent crop. Dinei showed promising signs of fitting in to the farm family so another role was created for him, and he’s proven to be an incredible asset ever since.
Dinei is not shy of hard work, and always has an endearing smile (even in the ridiculous heat, bent over a row of weeds). He met his Australian wife, Sarah, on a banana farm in Lakeland, Qld and they have two small children who are two friends for Darcy and Olivia.
