Meet the Farmers who open their gates - Lawson & Laura’s regenerative story
There's a particular smell on Lawson and Laura's Margaret River farm - it’s the smell of healthy soil, faintly sweet and alive with worms. It's not something you can fake. When I bring guests here on our Margaret River food and farm tours, that smell is usually the first thing they notice, often before they even see the animals.
It's a fitting introduction, because what Lawson and Laura have built since 2015 is, at its core, about what's real versus what's not.
From Conventional to Regenerative
Lawson is a fourth-generation farmer. He grew up in conventional agriculture, the kind most Australian farming families have practised for decades back in the 1990s. Well before "regenerative" was a word anyone outside farming circles used, he made the shift into organic, biodynamic growing. That's not a small decision. It means unlearning methods passed down through generations and rebuilding a whole approach to land from scratch.
Laura brings the other half of the equation. As a sustainability and permaculture educator, she's spent her career thinking about systems - how soil, water, animals, and community all connect. Together, they describe their mission simply: to grow, share, and advocate for good, honest food.
Their "farmily" motto is live well, and they mean it for every being on the property, not just the humans. Healthy soil, clean waterways, biodiversity, and animals genuinely cared for aren't marketing language here; they're daily practice.
Walking the Talk
Here's the thing Lawson and Laura say themselves, and it's stuck with me every time I bring a tour through their gate: right now, it's genuinely hard to tell what's authentic and what's just clever marketing. Buzzwords like "sustainable" and "regenerative" get used freely, often by businesses that have never set foot in a paddock.
Lawson and Laura's answer to that problem is refreshingly old-fashioned, they just open the gate. No filtered photos, no curated highlight reel. They invite people to come and see for themselves: open days, farm shop visits by appointment, farm tours, tasting their products, sustainable living workshops, even consultancy where they'll come to you.
When I watch guests walk their property touching the soil, meeting the animals, hearing Lawson explain why a paddock is rested or why the chickens are moved regularly, I see something shift. It's one thing to read "regenerative farming" on a label. It's another to stand in a field and understand exactly what that word costs in time, patience, and care.
A Moment From the Farm
Frequently, the curious ask about "all the sustainability talk", and why he bothered, given how much harder this kind of farming is than simply spraying and moving on. Lawson doesn’t give a rehearsed answer. He pointed at the ground and talked about what was living in the soil compared to the depleted, chemically treated paddocks. He talked about ground cover and the importance of keeping the soil working, keeping the soil cool in summer, and keeping the soil rested when needed. By the end of the visit, these guests are usually the ones asking the most questions and taking the most photos and rethinking their choices.
That's the kind of moment you simply can't get from a supermarket shelf or a brand's Instagram page. It's the entire reason we built our tours around real visits to real producers. That’s what we aim for.
When the tour is over, guests can taste the results of hard work as well as purchase products such as beef, lamb, eggs, pasta, lemons, compost (all in one shop!) to enjoy back home.
Meet Them Yourself
Lawson and Laura's farm is one of the stops on our Margaret River food, farm and wine tours with a chance to walk the same paddocks, ask the same questions, and decide for yourself who's really walking their talk. If you'd like to meet the people behind your food rather than just read about them, join us on tour.