Bern Squires has a passion for all things sustainable. Our sustainability starts in the vineyard and in the olive grove with minimal interference in the vines and the olive trees. Sprays are used only when necessary and over the next 5 years we are progressing towards a totally organic site.
One of our first investments has been to power the whole property including all of our irrigation pumps, the new cellar door and the house by the power of the sun. In collaboration with Glen Melton and the team at Xirasol we have installed a full sun tracking solar station that is state of the art.
Our Australian owned and made solar array allow for grazing underneath the panels, and the bi-facial panel design, which is combined with a tracking mechanism, means energy is generated for more hours each day than a conventional fixed, single-sided panel.
We have been proud to support Xirasol ( a local Albury company) The company is backed by an Australian venture capital investor and it uses mostly Australian steel for the frames and supports. The equipment in the factory includes robots purchased and repurposed from a Ford plant that closed in Victoria.
Our current vegie garden has been serving us well for the past 2 years however it is time to expand with a view to obtaining as much produce for our cellar door when it opens from within the property and close neighbours.
We are planning a community garden for locals as well enabling us to share our experiences. The garden beds are currently under construction by Bern’s Dad. Bill is pretty handy even though he is into his 80’s and at the moment he is putting together garden beds from our old pine posts and our recycled tin. He also has a project making our timber bench top for the cellar door from recycled timber so we are keeping him busy.
