Talara is a start up micro-business that is passionate about protecting, recognising and promoting the use and knowledge around Australian native fruit, vegetables, salts and herbs.
Promoting Australian Natives
The Beginning of Talara –
Australian Native Botanicals.
Ever since I was a kid, the bush and bush foods were a part of our lives. My uncle and Dad taught us a lot about what to find and eat. My uncle always had an amazing veggie patch on a property where there wasn’t much but red dirt. He always loved trying to grow natives where you normally wouldn’t find them. So with this upbringing and that feeling of needing to make some changes in my life, I thought I should search for my happy place……and I think I’ve found it. I had a few requirements that this needed to meet. They included; being out of town, with my family, to be outside, to be moving and to make a difference.
It’s been a very long journey to finally take the step from white collar professional to something that captures my dreams, and can grow into something that I can share with our family and the greater community. A place where we can increase the availability and awareness of Australian fruits, vegetables and herbs into our fruit and veggie shops and grow Australian edible plants for others to grow their own.
Our goal is to
#makingnativesmainstream
And our tag line is
#plantingforresilience
You might be asking where the name ‘Talara’ came from…and to be honest, I made it up. I was pleasantly surprised that as a girl’s name it means, ‘from the earth’, and I have found a few references that it means ‘rain’ in an Indigenous Australian language. So, I thought the name was perfect for our project.
It’s going to be a slow moving project, but I am loving the time spent learning, growing and teaching our boys along the way. As we learn and grow, my ideas may get a little broader, so I am using the word ‘botanicals’ as it covers the depth and breadth we may need to ensure we can get Australia’s own foods on our own map. To finally acknowledge our first people’s food culture and embrace it as an Australian food culture, not as just “bush tucker”.
It is a very important part of this project that I acknowledge our nations first peoples. Our land, country, and all of it’s plants and animals have been managed by the original custodians and caretakers of Australia, to whom we pay our respects to. For a people to flourish in such an old country for so many thousands of years is a true testimony to their ability to listen, watch and have a wonderful balance between the environment and it’s people.
We have a lot to learn, but hopefully we can share our journey with you and build it into something our boys and our community will be proud of. It’s been a very long journey to finally take the step from white collar professional to something that captures my dreams, and can grow into something that I can share with our family and the greater community. A place where we can increase the availability and awareness of Australian fruits, vegetables and herbs into our fruit and veggie shops and grow Australian edible plants for others to grow their own.
