Information from Haystacks to Cul-de-sacs & Golden Grove Community Oral History
The farm owned by Alfred Joseph Crouch was purchased about 1923. It had been owned before that by the Smart family, who were early settlers to the area.
It was called ‘Silver Acres’ because the land was covered in Artichoke weed (Scotch Thistle).
This weed had great silver fronds with a big blue flower. In the spring it would be all silver.
This was mainly a sheep farm and at certain times of the year the sheep would eat the Thistle as it was very high protein fodder. The sheep would bite off the flowers and turn the fronds around so the prickles stood away and they would eat and thrive on them.
As cattle became a more viable proposition in later years Mr. Crouch had fat cattle and fat lambs.
Alfred Joseph Crouch married Eva Isabelle Carraill at Tungkillo in 1911.