The Mandarin Bend grows food that sustains us, the farmers, and our community. We grow food in a way that builds ecological wealth in these beautiful surrounds. We provide inspiration to others as a living, working example of a wholesome & successful agrarian lifestyle.
– The Mandarin Bend mission statement.
We are Kaycee & Tom The Mandarin Bend team!
We have been farming on this beautiful land since early 2017. We grow vegetables intensively on 1.5 acres, a diverse range with many greens and herbs. We also have a small herd of cattle which are holistically grazed through the farm. We are passionate about farming in a way that rebuilds soil, protects our forests and waterways and heals our community. We believe farmers play an integral role here in local community and also in the world. We consider ourselves lucky to have the best job in the world!
A bit of history….
Tom Macindoe
Novacastiran born & raised, but long a farmer at heart. My folks got their hands on some semi-arable land when I was a teenager & it didn’t take long until I started dabbling in my own primitive agrarian pursuits. I bought my first cow & calf in my late teens, & was a dog’s body on local farms for some years while going through my environmental science-come-ecological agriculture tertiary studies. Out of Uni I worked in catchment management & the invasive plants field for some years. My love of farming, the soil & a desire to know more took me on a backpacking trip around the globe where I was exposed to passionate people in organic & biodynamic farming, small scale market gardening & Community Supported Agriculture, permaculture, syntrophic farming & so on. The line was drawn – I was going to farm full time, one way or another.
Kaycee Simuong
My passion for food, cooking and the environment gave me the desire to learn what it takes to grow food. I undertook a short internship at a biodynamic CSA farm and knew pretty quickly I had found my calling as a market gardener! I loved it. After growing on a few different sharefarms on the mid north coast, I’ve settled in at The Mandarin Bend. I have a desire to change our broken food system – to educate people about the joys and benefits of seasonal, organic eating and to inspire more young people to connect back to the land and start growing food.
The Mandarin Bend 