"And I must work through months and years of toil of cultivation upon my proper patch of soil to grow my own plantation." - Handwritten note by Annie Holm, Eggert Holm’s Daughter-in-Law, early 1900’s
"It is about feeding the soil, not the plant.” Eggert Holm, 1896, Viticulturist, Australia.
Eggert Holm came from the old wine country of Schleswig-Holstein, bringing with him a deep understanding of vines, fermentation, soil, disease, climate and craft.
By the late 1800s he was working as a senior winemaker at Hermitage Estate in New South Wales before later settling his family in Queensland. In 1905, he opened Holm’s Wine Vaults on Ruthven Street, opposite St Luke’s Church in Toowoomba, and became one of Queensland’s most outspoken advocates for the wine industry.
He was known not only for his technical knowledge, but for his willingness to challenge the State Government when he believed Australian growers and winemakers were being neglected.
Eggert was a viticulturist by vocation and a restless experimenter by nature. In the 1920s he pursued Australian champagne, and in 1925 drew attention for producing brandy from Queensland pineapples.
He advised growers on vineyard management, plant disease, soil conditions, fermentation and vinification, always working at the place where land, biology, fruit and human skill meet.
More than a century later, Earthfood carries that same family thread forward not through wine, but through living soil.
What began in the world of vines, orchards and old-world agricultural knowledge now continues through Earthfood Life, a certified organic living soil microbial product created to help gardeners, growers and communities restore the biology beneath their feet.
The tools have changed. The calling has not. Soil still comes first.
From humble beginnings in Eggert’s days in the late 1880s to the present day. This is Bronwyn Holm's Great Great Grandfather and a legacy of which we are so proud.
Message from Earthfood Founder Bronwyn Holm
My Great Grandmother, Annie Holm (nee Giesemann) from Laidley, one of the food bowls of Australia, in Queensland (near Toowoomba), whose mother was founded the town and community by building 13 properties and a pub in the main streets.
In those days, the main streets of Laidley never wasted a spot without growing some form of food. Growing food was a preoccupation that was always in the back of their mind, in between their daily day work, preparing meals on the wood stove and of service to others.
Generosity was easy for my Grandma Holm, any visitors arriving in town would pay their respects with a call in to receive a cup of tea and scone, or if it was meal-time, the soup was extended and with Holm-made bread you sat and joined.
When I came across Annie Holm’s (Eggert Holm daughter-in-law) handwritten note, my eyes leaked with gratitude feeling the labour of love tending to her soil so her garden would bloom. It all just made sense to me.
As a legacy to my family, the Holm’s, let Earthfood help you enjoy the satisfaction and rewarding experience of gardening from pots on balconies to a traditional backyard or farming acreage to grow better tasting fruit, vegetables, herbs, flowers, plants and lawns for a healthier planet.
We are here for you.