A plaque in the Rochford kitchen, written in Gaelic, translates to “A hundred thousand welcomes”.
The surrounding kitchen, home, acclaimed gardens and productive property are testament to that sentiment, with Dick Rochford and his wife Dora creating a setting that invites a visit.
Many did take the opportunity to visit when the gardens were opened to the public under the Australian Open Gardens Scheme in November 2008, marvelling at the plantings and the reticulation system Dick created using a creek-powered pump and gravity feed.
The Rochfords first moved to the property in 1988, camping in the framework of the house as it was literally built around them.
While his feet may now be permanently planted on this side of the world, the property’s name, “Carrigbyrne”, is the name of the town in southern Ireland where Dick was born. While teaching high school in Ireland he was recruited by the NSW Department of Education in the mid-70s during a local teacher shortage.
“I had an inclination to travel and had already applied for jobs in Nigeria and Canada,” Dick said.
“Dora, surprisingly enough, had a preference for Australia over Nigeria.”
After a few months in Narrabri, Dick secured a permanent position in Nyngan where he remained for eight years and his two children Mark and Joanne were born.
His work outside school hours with a local youth club put him in line for a part-time position as a careers advisor at the school.
He was supposed to dedicate two periods a week to the new role, but soon found himself spending about half his time advising students on their life post-high school.
When the education department dictated that each high school have a full-time careers advisor he moved into that position and it was as a careers advisor that he joined the Tenterfield High School in 1984, staying until his retirement in 2001.
During his term he introduced many vocational education courses that were specifically career-oriented.
“They were a crucial part of the program,” he said.
Dick often catches up with past students and is always interested to see if they followed his advice.
“It’s nice to find out what they’re doing,” he said.
It was a difficult decision to retire early at 55, but by that time he had been growing garlic in partnership with neighbour Ted Saddler, leveraging Ted’s extensive experience in the food industry.
When the partnership was dissolved due to Ted’s ill health, Dick was finding it hard to cope with working both at the high school and on the farm.
“One of them had to go,” he said, “and I knew I’d be retiring eventually.”
The Rochfords opted to go organic with the garlic, and have been certified with the Organic Growers of Australia for the past eight years.
Garlic is a labour-intensive crop with little mechanisation, keeping Dick busy from October to March. The rest of the year Dick is building walls and new garden beds.
He’s also secretary and fire permit officer for the Homestead Fire Brigade and runs a Dorper sheep flock as well.
“I just like having sheep around, and they’re part of the organic system,” he said.
Once the garlic is harvested the paddock is planted to oats, clover and other pasture species for the sheep to graze for several years before garlic is replanted.
Dick’s current big project is a stone meditation sanctuary for his wife, in pursuit of the adage “happy wife, happy life”.
The sanctuary may well be just one component of Dick’s pursuit of his own organic dream.
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