Healing herbs - Roseneath Organics

Recently, I had the pleasure of a field trip to Roseneath Organics in South Australia, as part of  the Biodynamic Association of Australia’s annual conference.

Roseneath Organics’ founder, Adam Voysey, wasn’t always in the business of growing medicinal herbs; he was previously an engineer.  When Adam’s stress-related health problems could not be effectively treated with conventional medicine, he took it upon himself to find a cure. He found it in the humble herb calendula, and his admiration for the power of herbs started a new career.

During our tour around his beautiful farm, Adam enthusiastically shared his knowledge of herbs. We learnt that some powerful healing herbs are common weeds such as petty spurge (Euphorbia pepulus). A traditional remedy for warts, CSIRO studies shows it acts against skin cancer. Another example Adam gave was the pepino plant, which is known for its fruit, but also holds an important medicine - the juice of its stem and flowers can be used to help treat drug addiction.

Roseneath Organics herb farm is NASAA certified organic and relies on biodynamic methods to maintain fertility in a stony hillside in Hahndorf, Adelade Hills, South Australia.  On a small farm of four hectares, a huge variety of mostly perennial herbs are grown for use in healing and skincare products. The hillside has been terraced, and microclimates are created with shadecloth-covered areas and a greenhouse for subtropical species. A cohesive workforce has been created by moving the office to the growing and drying site, with the production facility at Mylor.

Herbal compost teas such as stinging nettle, yarrow, comfrey, and casuarina, are mixed with worm wee, biodynamic manure concentrate and 500. This mixture is stirred in a flowform for one hour, and then watered onto the compost heaps as they are built. The compost heaps are also enriched with basalt rock dust and zeolite to hold nutrition. The worm farm is constructed of large plastic pots so the matured worm compost can be carried directly to where it is needed. As the soil is poor, the terraced beds are dressed with well matured compost several inches thick before planting. Water is another limiting factor, and dam water is used judiciously to keep most plants alive during the very hot summer. The dam is covered to reduce evaporation.

When a customer requests a natural cure for a particular condition, Adam develops a new product for them, knowing there are other people searching for the same thing. Adam first thoroughly researches his library of traditional, Ayuvedic and Eastern herbalism, and then creates a remedy combining the best and safest herbs. Adam makes his products in small batches from scratch – no generic base creams are used. Roseneath’s by-line is “totally natural products that work”. This is achieved by using active ingredients in therapeutic doses, so results are quick and effective. For example, the head lice lotion is 96% effective, according to the results of trials at Flinders University.

Adam uses niche marketing rather than trying to compete with the big organic skin care manufacturers. He feels there is deception in many products marketed as natural, organic or herbal which contain very little of the promoted ingredient. The quality of Roseneath Organics products sells themselves, and sales are mainly through word of mouth.

You can purchase Roseneath Organics products at www.roseneathorganics.com.