NORTH-WEST FOCUS
Farming down the line The innovative Roberts-Thomson family are planting for the next generation.
The thousands of tourists who make their way to
“I’m one of the people who did a science degree
Table Cape on Tasmania’s fertile North-West Coast
and then went farming,” Paul said.
from September to October are rewarded by rows of spectacular, multicoloured tulips with a majestic lighthouse backdrop and uninterrupted ocean views to the horizon. Since the mid-1980s, the farmgate of Van Diemen Quality Bulbs has opened to the public for one month a year and has become a tourism venture that is now a major drawcard for the North-West Coast. The family behind the farm – the Roberts-Thomsons – have called the property home since Paul’s grandfather took ownership in 1910. Now, Paul and his wife Bronwen, along with their son Dave and daughter Meredith – the fourth generation of Roberts-Thomsons – oversee a diverse farming business, of which flowering tulips play only a tiny part. All four are University of Tasmania alumni. Paul has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science with Honours (1976); Bronwen has a Bachelor of Arts (1974); Meredith
“I was brought up with sheep, cattle, and cropping. Our specialist enterprise was stud sheep and we changed from sheep to tulips in the 1980s. “It’s not hard to look around a place like Table Cape and think the future must be in horticulture.” Paul explained the idea of tulips came from the late Professor George Wade, a respected plant pathologist who established the School of Agricultural Science at the University of Tasmania in 1962. His 19-year leadership largely shaped the school as it is today: the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA). “We started growing bulbs and the natural progression was to grow flowers. With flowers, a lot of your operation must be done today. Tomorrow won’t do. For us, it wasn’t sustainable,” Paul said. Leaving cut flowers behind, the Roberts-Thomsons concentrated on selling bulbs to home gardeners.
completed a Bachelor of Science with Honours in
“You put tulips on top of Table Cape, people want to
2002; while Dave has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2004),
come and have a look. Once you start engaging on
and a Graduate Certificate in Business (2014).
a tourism basis, the mail order flows naturally,” Paul said.
Aerial view of Van Diemen Quality Bulbs at Table Cape. Photo: Dale Triffet
It’s not hard to look around a place like Table Cape and think the future must be in horticulture.”
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