Producing
with love
for over 7 decades
the faranda
Producing
a family tradition
our story
Born in Montalbane di Cona, at the foot of the Etna, Antonino arrived in Australia with his family in October 1948. Having been living in Werribee since then, they bought their first 60 acres of land in 1951. The land was later divided in four blocks, and Tony kept 20 acres, an extension of land that is hard to manage due to the labour-intensive work required. Although irrigation has been rationalised through technologies, the picking of cauliflowers and broccoli can be done only with the knife. Workers (usually 18 to 20) place the harvest on the tractor. In order to mechanise horticultural production you need a large acreage – explains Tony – to pay off the high cost of machinery.
What we produce
The Faranda produce a wide variety of vegetables, including artichokes,
lettuce, four kinds of cauliflowers, fennel, broccoli, kale, beetroots, and
carrots. They are quite active in farmers markets in Melbourne and its
surroundings. Rita Faranda prepares salted olives marinated with pepper and excellent artichokes
in garlic oil.
Words of wisdom
"Puglia is the best place in Italy for agriculture, due to its flatlands and fertile soils. However, fruit there can be quite poorly presented as the local management practices are often a bit rough. This way, crop production in Italy ends up being less sophisticated if compared to the Australian practices.”
Producing in Werribee since 1951
The Faranda
SUPPORTED BY
The Italian Australian Foundation and La Trobe University
