Sam jumped across the ditch to head to Grounded last week - a soil and farming festival held in the Ottways, south-west of Melbourne. Here’s his quick insights from the two day festival.

‘Grounded’ is the Australian sister festival to NZ’s ‘Underground Festival' of soil, food and farming and for those of you that have been to Underground, the vibe was pretty similar and the weather and setting were stunning.

The festival was hosted by the Stewart family on Yan Yan Gurt West Farm - the Stewarts are the co-founders and a real driving force behind the Otway Agroforestry Network, one of the most successful farmer-led agroforestry networks in the western world. In the last 30 years the Stewarts have increased their tree cover to over 20%, mostly in gullies and ‘creeklines’, while maintaining production and creating valuable timber production which is now starting to be harvested by the next generation. It also created an idyllic setting for the 500+ people at the festival, surrounded by shelterbelts on three sides.