A short film about One Table Farm in Margaret River, a ‘climate change aware’ farm-based cooking school, has amassed over 2.8 million views on YouTube.The beautifully shot four-minute video was made by YouTube in February as part of ‘YouTube Learning Stories’ to show how Australians are learning new skills on YouTube.
One Table Farm is a small family-run business owned by Cree Monaghan, a former zoo vet, and her husband Tim Hall, a former corporate training manager, that first came to YouTube’s attention last year.
“YouTube contacted us out of the blue and said that they had seen a story about us online where we’d mentioned how we built our farm knowledge – everything from building a mobile chicken tractor, pruning fruit trees to moving pigs – from watching YouTube,” Cree said.
“They sent a production crew of 13 people over to our little farm [pre-coronavirus] and spent nearly four days filming our story. Originally it was a little overwhelming to be honest, but also quite humbling since they’ve only made four of these kinds of videos in Australia so far. It was a lot of fun.”
Ashely Chang, Culture and Trends Manager for YouTube Asia Pacific said that Cree and Tim were a great example of following their passions and using YouTube to learn along the way.
“Cree and Tim are locals who used YouTube to learn and follow their passion – helping their community and our planet through their self-built, regenerative farm. Not only are they giving back to the land they work, but they’re passing on sustainable practices through their climate aware cooking school.
“They are just one example and one story. YouTube enables anyone, anywhere, at any time to access information. And with over 500 hours of video uploaded every minute, there are constantly new learning opportunities at people’s fingertips — and we’re devouring them, with hundreds of millions of views of educational content on YouTube every single day globally,” Ashley said.
Cree and Tim lived in Perth and always had the dream to live sustainably and regenerate the land. Cree also followed her passion for cooking and attended culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Tim ramped up his sourdough baking and after buying 100 acres in 2014, they made the tree change with their three children.
Tim Hall and Cree Monaghan. Photo: Russell Ord
“There was nothing here, just the land, no water except the dam, no power, no shed, no house, no driveway, nothing,” Tim said.
“What we did first is plant the fruit trees, then built the house and the cooking school while also establishing the garden. It’s been a lot of work, and the work never ends, but it’s also immensely rewarding.”
Cree and Tim share their farm and what they have learnt as much possible offering sustainable farm tours, paddock to plate cooking and their popular sourdough workshops. Cree also has an additional veterinary qualification in animal welfare and ethics so they discuss how to raise animals ethically and how to make informed food choices at the supermarket.
“If we run this farm in isolation and don’t share it with anybody, then it doesn’t reach its full potential,” Cree said.
Tim and Cree are looking to expand their farm vision through collaboration with people sharing a similar ethos – be that a ‘Biggest Little Farm’ model, or small boutique industries such as a market garden extension, bush food production or ancient grain growing for bread making.
It seems that nothing is off the table for One Table Farm.
For more information about One Table Farm and their sourdough workshops, cooking classes and farm tours, visit www.onetablefarm.com.au
Quote attributed to Sean Blocksidge, owner/operator of Margaret River Discovery Company:
“Cree and Tim’s story is remarkable, but what blows my mind is how many people have watched their video on YouTube – almost 3 million! That’s nuts.
“It has to be the most successful reach we’ve ever had for promoting anything from the Margaret River region. By comparison, a successful Margaret River region YouTube video would be doing amazing if it reached 10,000 views. Nearly 3 million views for a tiny farm business is insane.
“We owe them all, including YouTube who created the video, big high-fives for sharing their story and promoting the Margaret River region in a time when most businesses are struggling.”
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