Tara Luca is an Organic flower farmer and florist, and with her family, has spent time caretaking an Organic Tea tree farm in the beautiful Northern Rivers on Bandjalang country. She lives with her husband Alex, a farmer and teacher, and their 3 beautiful daughters, on an intentional community surrounded by forest. 

Tara grew up as part of a big Italian family, on a street with multiple generations of the same family who all had amazing gardens, with lots of herbs, veggies and flowers. 

She has a very early poignant memory of burying her nose in fragrant roses and gardenias and letting the aroma carry her away…

Tara’s love of flowers was deeply embedded from an early age…

Growing up, Tara’s Mum always had a deep connection with Australian bush flower essences, using this beautiful medicine to support her family in times of need…

This connection has continued in her own family and Tara speaks of the way essences support her and her daughters during times of emotional turmoil. 

Tara’s passion for flowers and the slow distilled tea tree oil created by her family, shines through during our conversation….

We chat about the endemic nature of tea tree to this small pocket of the Northern Rivers and what they may have meant to the traditional custodians of this land…

We touch on the precious and potent nature of essential oils and how a return to the old ways of using plants as medicine is a way to honour this.

Tara admits to sometimes getting lost in a swirl of busyness in the day to day of balancing motherhood, life and small business ownership…

She shares the importance of tuning in to herself and listening and how routine and ritual play such a big part in her self care.

She speaks about reframing anxiety as a means of communication with her body, rather than allowing herself to be consumed or dragged into a whirlpool of worry and stress…

We chat about how knowing ourselves and our own individual constitutions can help us to recognise what our body’s need to thrive (and what’s best avoided, we’re looking at you coffee!)

Tara generously shares her wisdom around the many and varied uses for Tea tree oil, including a beautifully nourishing inhalation that can be just what’s needed during times of respiratory illness and congestion…

Tune in for a beautifully nourishing and soul warming conversation!

You can find out more about Tara, her beautiful Organic flowers and her family’s Organic Tea tree oil here 

You can also connect with Tara on Instagram and Facebook. 

To find out more about The Elder Tree visit the website at www.theeldertree.org and donate to the crowdfunding campaign here.

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Find out more about this podcast and the presenters here. Get in touch with The Elder Tree at:  [email protected]

The intro and outro song is "Sing for the Earth" and was kindly donated by Chad Wilkins.  You can find Chad's music here and here.