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Australian organic macadamia nuts growing in their natural native habitat on the Alstonville
Plateau Australia. Serendip Plantation covers more than 60 hectares with 15,000 macadamia trees.
Clean and green environment
This region on the east coast of Australia is very near the famous surfing beaches of Byron Bay and the extinct volcano Mt Warning. Millions of years ago the volcano produced deep red kraznozem volcanic soils and, combined with an annual rainfall of 1800 + mm this land supports lush rainforests including the Australian macadamia nut tree. The rainfall is free of pollution. No irrigation is used on this farm, just naturally occurring rain. The main industry of this region is tourism and agriculture and macadamia farming as the number one agricultural crop.
 
Who owns Serendip Plantation?
Serendip Plantation is a privately owned family farm of husband and wife team Colin and Christine Rijks. The farm provides income and support for six families. Colin and Christine live on this farm and their house is now in the middle of a mature organic macadamia plantation but also surrounding a natural rainforest known as “The Big Scrub”.
The Rainforest
The rainforest at Serendip Plantation is a nature reserve and now protected and owned by the Australian Government as a heritage site. This is the largest remnant natural rainforest on the Alstonville Plateau. This is what the entire region looked like before the timber getters cut down the forests during the late nineteenth century in search of the much sought after red cedar and teak trees used for furniture and house construction. Macadamia nut trees grew naturally around the edges of these forests. Serendip Plantation wraps halfway around this forest, which escaped the timber getters. It is filled with beautiful plants and native Australian animals living in a protected natural environment.
We work with nature - It's natural
The Big Scrub Rainforest and Serendip Plantation provide protected wildlife corridors and protected habitats for Australian native animals
including koalas, wallabies (small kangaroos), wombats, possums, kookaburras, owls and many other birds and reptiles. Insects, birds,
animals and reptiles wander in and out of our farm. We work with nature.
Working life at Serendip
The project has also provided a safe healthy work environment for additional people all living close by. This is a very lovely place to live and work and totally free of chemicals. Our dedicated and highly skilled work team is fully trained in organic farming and in his or her specific job.
This farm is fully mechanized with modern farm equipment and machinery to make everyone’s job as safe, comfortable and efficient as possible. This farmland is flat which makes tractor operation much safer than steep sloping land. There is no hand picking on this farm. No person does any job that the owners themselves are not prepared to do. Each team member at Serendip Plantation is fully supportive of organic farming methods
Team members at Serendip are
• Fully trained in his or her specific job to a high level of competency
• Have good understanding and importance of organic farming and participate in continuing organic education at a farm level
• Trained in safe food handling
• Provided a safe and healthy work environment. Serendip Plantation has a code of workplace health and safety
• Paid above award rates of pay as determined by the Australian government industry awards
• Given holiday leave and provided with flexible working hours to accommodate harmonious family life
• Provided with superannuation contributions paid by the owners for a future retirement
Why organic?
Christine and Colin’s decision to operate their farm as a totally organic enterprise is not based on financial considerations but on a life philosophy of caring for our planet and future generations.
Colin Rijks has a science background (B.Sc. Industrial Chemistry UNSW 1969) and his previous employment was in manufacturing chemical and oil industries in Sydney. Colin’s knowledge of chemicals and their effects on nature led to a keen interest in organic farming.
Specialist Farm Care & Nutrition
Qualified expert plant nutritionists for macadamia trees and other agricultural specialists are part of the Serendip Team. We engage agricultural and plant experts to assist with the monitoring of Serendip Plantation which includes the health of the trees and the health of the soil. All inputs to this farm including fertilizers and other nutrients are organically certified.
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