The Douglas family were early cattle industry pioneers in Queensland’s south-west. Descendants are now spread across the region and well beyond. The home of Jock and Mina Douglas and their four daughters Sally, Lee, Eve and Trisha is the property ”Wyoming”. near Roma.

The property is situated in the heart of the fertile Mt Abundance district (named by explorer Major Mitchell in May 1846 and described in his diary as the “the finest grazing lands in its natural state I have ever seen”). The business is a cattle, grass seed and emerging horticultural production enterprise.

When Jock Douglas moved with his family to “Wyoming” in 1975 he noted the large clumps of wild desert lime trees which fruited generously. The Douglas family had long recognised the wonderful flavour of this native fruit and handed down recipes for refreshing drinks, sauces, pickles and jams. Jock and Mina began by picking for their own use then harvesting and marketing the fruit to wholesalers and processors as a demand emerged.

To provide certainty of supply through variable seasons a trickle irrigation plantation with over 3000 trees was begun in 1997. These have been grown from cuttings taken from selected high yielding trees identified in the years of wild harvesting.

The approach has been to involve the whole family in this new initiative. The long term business plan includes each family member having responsibility for the various facets of the limes enterprise. This includes on-property fruit production, picking, packing and storage; development of value-added product lines; and marketing. Thus, a local native plant has provided the catalyst for a new business enterprise and to engage a family in an innovative joint endeavour.