Mr Skipper and his partner Sally Ayre-Smith run the Sweet Water Organic Garlic Farm, located in picturesque Sherwood, just 11km west of Kempsey.

The couple, who were forced out of retirement due to increasing costs of living, have been growing organic Russian Garlic on their property situated alongside the pristine Macleay River for ten years.

"We love the lifestyle," Mr Skipper said.

"The reason we moved here is we fell in love with the valley and the river.

"Then retirement didn't work, suddenly the price of everything started going up.

"We thought we can't retire now, we have to go back to work, but hang on a minute, we own a block of land - why don't we try farming."

After consulting the Agricultural Department to determine which crops would be most suited to the soil and weather conditions the pair decided Organic Russian Garlic was not only the most likely to yield a quality crop but would also maximise their income from the 1.1 acre plot available to them in a timeframe that was acceptable.

Garlic would also be a relatively easy and basic crop for the first-time farmers to manage.

So Ms Ayre-Smith embarked on a year long TAFE course to become qualified in horticulture and the handy Mr Skipper, a former sculptor/builder, prepared the property and equipment, constructing all of the buildings and putting together heavy machinery that he still uses on a daily basis to plough and assist the 15-strong human labour force comprising primarily of backpackers with the harvest.

Overseeing the harvest is just one aspect of Mr Skipper's typical routine, which involves attending to the livelihood of his farm according to the seasons and the weather, and includes tasks such as general maintenance of the grounds, machines, fences and soil, as well as feeding the domestic animals and keeping an eye out for wild dog tracks.

"You're keeping everything going in a gentle, relaxed fashion," he said.

“This is a low-tech hands-on operation.

"You just keep all the bits rolling along.

"Good fences make for happy neighbours."

The self-styled market gardener considers the key to farming organic garlic on the Macleay Valley is having the soil scientifically tested in a laboratory and enriching it with the appropriate nutrients year-after-year.

"This is the way it works - you get the air, the oxygen for nothing, you get the sunlight for nothing, the rain when god wants to give it to you and you've got the soil and the thing you can work on is the soil," he said.

"As far as I understand your soil is only as good as the weakest link, so every year you keep fixing up the weak link and slowly building it up.

"We started off with 20 kilograms of garlic, now we're up to 7 tonnes.

"As soon as we harvest we start drying out, curing the garlic, packaging and every two weeks we drive it to the Sydney markets."

The garlic sells for more than $60 per kilo and the industrious duo now make a modest but comfortable living and enjoy 6 months of the year downtime.

"You get to have a lifestyle where you grow a lot of stuff and feel good about it.”