Horticulturist's dream come true

For Rainer Oberle, a horticulturalist with over four decades of experience, the venture to starting “Planet Bee” was as much about passion as it was about a deep connection to place. 

Originally from Germany, Oberle’s career took him to the Netherlands, a country he describes as the "mecca of horticulture." 

It was there, amongst the leading greenhouse technologies, that he first came across a concept that would forever change his career: a man living in a greenhouse. 

This idea—of working and living alongside the plants he grew—stayed with Oberle for years until he eventually started his farm based in a glasshouse in Salt Water River.

Mr Oberle’s career in horticulture took him to many places, but it was a four-week holiday to Tasmania in the late 1990s that inspired him to work in Tasmania.

“I found myself falling in love with the country,” he said, noting how beautiful the landscape was and friendly the people were. 

Mr Oberle was fascinated with the plants of Tasmania and knew this was where he would like to live and work.

“Tasmania's native flora consists of 25 species that can only be found here—that's absolutely amazing,” Mr Oberle said.

However, the path to settling in Tasmania was not without its challenges.

Immigration was difficult, but his expertise as a horticulturalist allowed him to navigate the process successfully. 

By 2007 Mr Oberle was living in Tasmania working as a tour guide and teaching horticulture, and by 2021 Mr Oberle was living his dream assembling  a large greenhouse on for his new business in Salt Water River. 

After a couple of years of meticulous planning and construction, the glasshouse that is now home to Planet Bee was done. 

“It was an experiment at first, but it’s turned out better than I ever expected,” Mr Oberle said.

While many farmers in Tasmania operate large, sprawling properties, Mr Oberle says his approach is different. 

He runs Planet Bee as a one-man operation, choosing to focus on a small, highly productive space instead of taking on the complexities of managing large acreages. 

"I’m convinced that per square meter, you can make a better living than with a 200- or 300-acre property," he said. 

Mr Oberle said his decision to limit the farm’s scale allows him to maximise resource efficiency and keep costs low.

Mr Oberle’s farm produces a range of vegetables, herbs, and seasonal specialties, many of which are supplied to restaurants in Tasmania, including Marla Singer in Hobart.

 “Chef Jonathan and the team at Marla have been incredible,” Mr Oberle said. 

“They get the importance of fresh, seasonal produce, and they understand the need for variety in the kitchen.” 

Marla Singer’s weekly orders are often a surprise, with the restaurant asking for whatever fresh produce Mr Oberle has available that week. 

It’s this kind of flexibility, combined with the commitment to high-quality, locally grown ingredients, that makes Mr Oberle’s partnership with the restaurant so successful.

“In theory, everyone supports local, seasonal produce, but in practice, it’s not always easy,” he said. 

“One of the challenges is making fresh produce accessible to the broader public.”

Mr Oberle will often open the farm for visitors to have their veggies freshly picked. He says it usually comprises of a small guided tour and a hopefully a good conversation.

“If the gate is open, the sign out and the geese are in good mood, walk or drive in,” he said.

Mr Oberle hopes that seasonal eating will eventually become more mainstream and hopes the next generation of chefs will embrace the value of locally grown food. 

“It’s not just about what’s popular or what’s easy to grow; it’s about cultivating something special.” 

“Chefs like Jonathan at Marla get that, and they make it work in their menus.”

His focus on quality means that he can offer fresh, unique varieties of food that might not be available from larger producers. 

Mr Oberle pointed out that the link between food and health is undeniable. He really values growing fresh and healthy food—central to the values of Planet Bee.

Although Planet Bee isn’t certified organic, Mr Oberle makes every effort to minimise the use of chemicals, focusing instead on integrated pest management and natural solutions. 

"One of the main costs in horticulture is chemicals, so I try to avoid them as much as possible.”

The greenhouse is fitted with various systems to reduce the need for chemicals, including a reliance on beneficial insects to control pests. 

When dealing with common greenhouse pest, the whitefly, Mr Oberle said he ordered 30,000 predatory mites from a company in Victoria to mitigate the issue without chemicals.

He said the mites feed on the eggs of whiteflies, providing a natural pest control.

"Temperature and humidity play a huge role in plant health and pest management," he added.

"If you get those conditions right, the plants and the beneficial insects thrive together." 

Mr Oberle says that innovation and automation are a key to the success of his operation. 

The greenhouse is fully fit with sensors that monitor everything from wind speed to temperature, and Mr Oberle can adjust the settings from his smartphone. 

"Without automation, this wouldn’t be possible, technology makes it all work smoothly,” he said.

Looking ahead, Mr Oberle plans to expand his vegetable production, and he is also working on planting a variety of fruit trees.

“I envisage this whole place at some stage in the future as a fruit forest—pears apples, feijoas, currants, cherries, mulberries, and many different berries.”

He currently has over 160 fruit trees planted. 

Additionally, Mr Oberle is passionate about preserving rare heirloom varieties of fruit such as apples. 

"I love finding old, interesting varieties of fruit and preserving them," he said. 

“My preference is collecting some of the heirloom species that are still around.”

“If I find something exceptional I’ll take a piece of a branch and graft that on  and that way I preserve that particular variety.”

"There are thousands of apple varieties, but you only see a around five in supermarkets, it would be great to see that change,” he said.

Although Mr Oberle admits that there isn’t much profit to be made in his vegetables alone, he is passionate about the role local, sustainable farming plays in the broader food system. 

In the future, Mr Oberle’s vision for Planet Bee is to continue growing, potentially get some help and to get the word out there about local produce.

“Knowing what's really fresh in terms of food and vegetables, I think people get shortchanged in many ways, so for that reason I would like to have a bit more exposure and to continue to deliver the real deal to Tasmanians.”