All roads lead to Largo Brae Farm
We met while studying at the University of Sydney and both quickly fell in love with microbiology as we started learning about the hidden world of microbes. Learning about microbiomes, fermentation, mycorrhizal fungi, bio- and myco-remediation and the weird and wonderful roles microbes play in our environment ignited passion and excitement in the two of us.
Amos majored in Microbiology and Medical Science, and ended up studying psilocybin biosynthesis for his Honours thesis. After a few years of various laboratory research roles (from algae photobioreactors to button mushroom compost) and casual academic teaching, he decided to swap the lab gown for some overalls.
Gemma majored in Microbiology and Plant Science, spending her Honours year researching the nutritional and agronomic properties of native Australian grasses. Meanwhile, she volunteered at Pocket City Farms making hot compost and strengthening her interest in soil microbiology. Between then and now, she’s done ecological surveys for a company in the environmental markets space.
In 2024, Gemma booked a how to grow and extract medicinal mushrooms workshop with EarthRising and Middle Path Medicine in the Blue Mountains for Amos’ birthday. This kicked off a renewed interest in growing mushrooms at home. Later that year, Amos received a call from family friends, Paul and Cath, who had got a whiff of our mushroom madness and wanted to convert an old shed on their property to a mushroom farm.
And from there, Largo Brae Farm was born.
