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Natural Handmade Tallow Soaps

Hi, I'm Liz, welcome to Eight Acres. I live on a small farm in Kumbia, Australia, with my husband, Pete, and our dogs Taz and Gus. This website started off as a blog for sharing all the things we make and grow on our small farm. We keep a small herd of beef cattle and a few dairy cows. We also have lots of chickens, bees and a vege garden.

Now as well as sharing what I'm learning, I can share what we make through our virtual farmgate (online shop), where I sell natural handmade tallow soap and raw chemical-free honey and beeswax.

If you want to find out more about what we do on the farm and where these products come from, you can read more in my blog, follow any of my social links or send me an email, I'd love to hear from you. Please join my mailing list, then you'll never miss an update from Eight Acres.

Eight Acres - the blog — soil

Winter Woodfires: Using wood ash

Jun 21 2018 3 Comments Tags: ash, compost, soil, woodstove

As you know, through winter we heat our home and cook using a woodstove, so we produce lots of wood ash as a result.

What you need to know about soil

Dec 18 2017 0 Comments Tags: farm, garden, soil

The more you spend time gardening or farming, the more you start to think about soil, and improving your soil and growing more plants. Here’s a few things that I think you should know about your soil to get you started.

Rehabilitating our property OR how to choose a small farm

Mar 22 2017 0 Comments Tags: land, Peter Andrew, soil, weeds

This is a post from February 2011, back when we only had Eight Acres and were working on fixing the soil fertility and clearing the paddocks. A few thoughts on what you can do with a small property.

This is the second small farm/acreage property that we've lived on. The first one, in the Lockyer Valley, was fairly flat and cleared of all but a few tall trees, with two good dams and few rocks or...

Book review: Organic Farming with Worms

Feb 15 2016 0 Comments Tags: biological farming, book, soil, sustainable, worm farm

I've had a compost worm farm for several years now. Actually I currently have three worm farms. They are a little addictive! I didn't know anything about compost worms before I got them, but I fell in love with the concept of having somewhere to dispose all our organic (vegetative) waste that would also reliably produce compost and liquid fertiliser. The worms and I have been very happy with our...

Soil testing for dams, roads and erosion control

Jan 18 2016 0 Comments Tags: dams, soil

I started a series on soil testing back here, in which I explained a few simple tests to work out the clay/silt/sand content of soil and the pH. I was always going to come back and explain dispersion, but the truth was, I didn't really know WHY dispersion was important at that time. I have since done a course on erosion management and it all became clear. However, dispersion is not really...

Can cows save the planet? - book review

Mar 12 2014 0 Comments Tags: book, farm, soil

The book Cows Save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth, by Judith D. Schwartz, covers a whole range of topics including soil carbon, water, minerals, and of course, cows, and their impact of climate and human health. When I read about this book, I knew I wanted to read and review it, and Judith was very kind to arrange for me to get a copy from New South...

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Eight Acres - the blog — soil

Winter Woodfires: Using wood ash

What you need to know about soil

Rehabilitating our property OR how to choose a small farm

Book review: Organic Farming with Worms

Soil testing for dams, roads and erosion control

Can cows save the planet? - book review

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