Deep South

The farmhouse has a lush country garden, perhaps slightly forgotten, as the camelia is poised to bloom and hydrangea is longing to be pruned.  The Blue Wren dance in the morning sun and the trees are full of Twenty Eights. Further down the back, the veggie patch is overflowing with rhubarb, vegetables, and herbs – the perfect kitchen garden with most essentials ready for the pot.

Maurie, the dog is at the backdoor, while Weetbix (the sheep) is in the house yard. The horses lean across the next-door fence, for the grass is always greener over this way. It’s lambing season, so the paddocks are full of pure white lambs wiggling their tails in ecstasy and kicking up their heels with the joy of life.

There is a sign on the fence ‘No THC Don’t Bother’ which is the first hint that this is not your typical, although idyllic, farming hideaway.

This is the den of South Coast Hemp Foods – a grower and producer of hemp seed and buckwheat. Hemp is an amazing super food packed with more protein than most, along with a host of other nutrients for the consumer – none of which are psychoactive, unless of course, you get high on health.

South Coast Hemp Foods founder Brad Skeggs, and his IT company COSOL, was a client of Detail many years ago. When they listed on the stock exchange, Brad sort a sea-change – but he wasn’t quite ready to commit to sailing and surfing full time (but why Brad?).

He’s not a man to muck about. Long story short, he set out on a quest to discover ‘the next avocado’ and after significant pondering and plenty of yarns, a farm was purchased, and hemp planted. And just like that, here we are – Brad’s now a successful hemp farmer and food producer.

After a period of testing, trialling, and learning, South Coast Hemp Foods now has a range of high-quality hemp foods ready for the market, along with his sort after crop of buckwheat. This is where Detail re-enters the story. He had a brand and product, and his hemp was selling well. But as a man who understands the benefits of harnessing both technology and marketing, we are helping with digital marketing, product development and spreading the news about the wonderful benefits of hemp to support the business scaling.

Because we love a road trip, and mixing business with pleasure, Charlotte and I packed our city slicker pooch Elsie in the car and headed south to the farm for a few days. We immersed ourselves in fireside chats, sampled Brad’s cooking (we can confirm hemp seed-crusted fish is delicious), visited the early morning surf spots and wandered around the farm learning all we can about the process of getting hemp and buckwheat from paddock to plate.

It’s only the beginning of hemp as a consumable food, as the benefits are great. In the simplest terms, the tiny seed is a tasty addition to almost anything. But most importantly it is packed with a high dose of protein, with very little bulk. This translates to an excellent food source for athletes of all kinds – from morning walkers and triathletes to racehorses everyone is loving hemp.

Hemp hosts a heap of other nutrients and fibre and a google search leaves no doubt it is a powerful little seed. If you want a high dose of energy without a large meal – adding hemp to your diet is perfect for you and strangely enough, we know where you can get your hands on some.

We’re pleased to share the new-look website has launched – https://southcoasthemp.com.au/