Jules Galloway hasn’t always been the vibrant picture of health that stands before me now as we chat outside the serene Shala at Tallow Beach Houses in Suffolk Park.
Looking at her bright eyes, clear skin, sparkly smile and confident demeanor now, it is hard to imagine her unwell and immobile. Yet Jules says it was her poor health as a child that inspired her on her journey to seek a better way of living.
Cutting dairy, sugar and wheat from her diet, Jules found an instant and dramatic change in her body; the ailments she had carried with her for her whole life suddenly disappeared, she gained energy, her chest infections cleared, her skin smoothed, her debilitating fatigue vanished and she began to thrive.
Jules moved to the Byron Shire two and half years ago from Melbourne and now spends her time helping other people find their own path to living naturally and harmoniously with their body and finding their innate vibrancy and radiance.
Practicing as a naturopath and working as a part-time raw food chef, Jules also developed Farm to Table – a tour of local farms in the Shire aimed at connecting people to fresh, organic produce in a manner that allows them to see where their food is coming from and to buy farm fresh goodness at a very affordable price.
“I love the local farmers markets,” Jules tells me, “but when I started a new job I was working every Thursday and couldn’t get there anymore. So instead, I started to find the roadside stalls where farmers sold their fresh produce directly to the public from their property.
“Suddenly I had friends asking me where I was getting all this amazing fresh food from so I would tell them and take them along with me. Eventually, someone said I should start running tours and so that’s what I did!”
Jules begins her tour by sharing her own health story and about other family members that she had nursed back to health from chronic illness simply by introducing a sugar free, dairy free and gluten free diet. Jules has a beautiful, approachable nature and people seem to feel very open in her presence. She doesn’t claim to be a raw vegan and admits to eating meat and cooked food. However she eats nothing processed, consuming a diet as close to its natural state as possible.
The first farm we visit just off Coopers Shoot road is called Piccadilly Paradise and, as we enter the pebble stone driveway, we are greeted by two beautiful kelpies who bound up to the bus, announcing our arrival. This beautiful piece of farmland is owned and operated by a husband and wife who do all of the labor themselves in order to keep the price of the produce as reasonable for customers as possible.
Piccadilly Paradise is run by the original principal of Byron Bay High, and his principal-like nature shines through in his little roadside stall, with its laminated instructions asking customers to pay with gold coins only and a security camera set up to deter the light-fingered. Questions about keeping pests away from organic veggies and queries about how the weather affects certain crops are all answered with detailed enthusiasm before our time at the first farm is up.
On route to the next farm, Jules brings out some fresh handmade bliss balls that she has made for us – all raw and free of dairy, gluten and sugar. They are delicious and we are all pleased when she hands us out the recipe for us to make ourselves at home.
Ten minutes up the road we move onto another beautiful piece of farmland run by another husband and wife and their four young children. As we are welcomed to the property, pecans fall from trees right above us and from where I stand I can see mangos, limes, custard apples, avocados and other fruiting trees that I am not yet familiar with. Raising children on the farm has made them very healthy little ones indeed – if they ever say they are hungry they are told, “You want something to eat? Lets go for a walk outside.”
The farmer explains how his neighbours grow different things to what he plants and that it is a simple, unspoken agreement that they focus on different produce. “It means that we never really need to go to the shops!” he laughs as he tells us of the way he and his neighbours trade veggies, fruit, eggs and even home brewed beer!
Back on the bus, a new flavor of bliss balls is passed around with another recipe and we gleefully munch on this homemade goodness while we turn into our third and final destination.
Many locals would have driven by Coster’s roadside farm stall. It is on the road the links Byron to Bangalow and his sign reads loud and clear ‘Big. Juicy. Melons.’ And that indeed, is what he sells – the ripest, juiciest, reddest, tastiest watermelons I have every come across! He also sells everything from spring onions to bananas to sweet potatoes and a hand-scrawled sign reads if you spend over $10 you get a handful of free squash!
On the way back to Tallow Beach Houses I nursed a box that was brimming with mangos, kale, basil, limes and zucchini that had cost me a little over $10! Looking around me the women on our retreat were animated and beaming as they chatted about their intentions to begin their own little gardens upon returning home and their new found understanding of the importance of eating as much fresh, organic and local produce as possible.
Jules initially thought the tours would be filled more with tourists but she is seeing a large number of locals jump onboard her bus, which thrills her. From a local perspective I can understand why. While it is lovely for tourists to share this experience, for us that are fortunate enough to live here all year round, it is a wonderful insight into where we can buy fresh organic produce on a regular basis at an affordable price.
Jules runs her Farm to Table Workshops every few months or so. To find out when her next one is or to find out more about her naturopathic work, please visit her website. You will also find some of her delicious and healthy recipes here too!
This article was made possible by Embracing Health Retreats, with thanks to Lisa Wheeler
