About us
Welcome to Just Add Trees. My name is Clinton Tepper and I’m the founder of Just Add Trees.
I am passionate about helping farmers integrate trees into farms to make them more resilient and productive in the face of increasing seasonal volatility.
Having studied and worked in forestry since 1991, its fair to say that trees have become a big part of my life. They form a significant part of our farming business and have become part of the family – our family tree!
My wife was brought up on Camaray farm and our four kids are the 4th generation to farm the land at “Camaray”.
We purchased the farm in 2011 and juggled its management with full time work and a growing family for a few years. All jugglers eventually get tired and we were no exception! We could see that this way of life was diverting the quality of our attention from what was most important to us, our faith, each other and our kids.
We needed to make a change.
From a financial perspective, the logical thing was to stay working full time, enjoy the company car and regular fortnightly income. However, this approach gave us no peace.
After several months of deliberation – carefully considering the pros and cons of farm-based employment, my wife and I were persuaded by a quiet, but firm voice that urged us “to live by faith and not by sight”.
In June 2016 we made the leap and have no regrets. None whatsoever.
One of the main attractions of the transition was the “default” closer proximity to my wife and kids that came with working on the farm each day. Recently one of the kids said “I love having you around more Dad. Especially when we get home from school and share afternoon tea”.
This was wonderful affirmation for our decision.
From the start of my forestry training I was always interested in the integration of trees across the farming landscape.
Back in 1995 when I was courting Shelly, my father in law (to be) and I planted a range of eucalypts and native shrubs in a couple of timberbelts across the farm. One of these borders our current driveway and the other is being progressively harvested for sawn timber and firewood.
Spending more time on the land amplified the opportunity to think about how the trees could benefit our farming operation over the longer term. I had the “headspace” to think longer term – not “just in time”.
With growing outside interest in the multi-storey farming system, I began to understand that the principles behind the system could also provide advantages to other farms and landscapes.
This thought sequence became the genesis of the company “Just Add Trees”.
If you need advice on your farm get in contact today