They bred rabbits, goats and several breeds of poultry and waterfowl. They reared broiler chickens and pigs, hand milked two cows, grew olives and owned the obligatory 20hp grey “Fergie” tractor.

Among the pioneers of Australia’s fledgling game bird industry, they designed and built much of the equipment used in the breeding and rearing of game birds and other small livestock.

Gary began to write general farming articles for FARM magazine (now the Australian Farm Journal) in the mid 1980’s. In the late 1990’s, he wrote business development articles for Australian Horticulture and for the national journal of the Apple and Pear industry.

In 1997, Gary and Jan relocated to Queensland where they started their own small business consultancy and resumed backyard food production.

Gary’s long held ambition to grow his own freshwater fish was realised when in 2006 they finally built their first backyard-scale Aquaponics system.

Gary and Jan are developing Creek Street Micro Farm as a showcase of backyard food production strategies.