What do you currently make/farm/supply?
Watermelons, Jap Pumpkins, Butternut Pumpkins, Rockmelons and more recently Garlic. Also growing some beautiful flowers which we hope to share with others soon.
How did you get into it?
Deanna grew up on a farm with her parents who were Organic Certified small crop farmers (largely vegetables) and Barry grew up in Central Queensland surrounded by and having a lot of interest in agriculture. Purchasing our property unlocked a beautiful location, along with the opportunity to turn knowledge and interest gained over time with respect to high quality produce, and chemical free growing into practice. What makes this better for us is that Deanna's parents also reside at the farm and are a significant help with guiding and supporting our growing efforts.
What do you enjoy about your work?
We enjoy seeing a product from seed right through to harvest and know the hands that have touched the product or contributed to its growth over the whole life cycle. We love being able to stand behind what we sell and believe the extra growing effort is worth it to ensure high quality produce is provided to our customers.
Why is organic/chemical-free food important to you?
Knowing the amount of chemicals used on a commercial level can be frightening in terms of considering how these become inputs to your body. We think about our family, our friends and future generations and consider that a chemical spray free focus on growing produce combined with other organic principals and inputs is the small part that we can play in the produce that we provide.
What challenges has this created for you and how do you overcome them naturally?
Weeding remains the most significant manual effort with each crop that we grow. So far, there is no substitute for manual labour, but it does provide a lot of good thinking time. We have Deanna's dad Bob to thank for a lot of this effort.
What’s your favourite meal?
Its hard to go past a great wood fired pizza!
Local farmers
Barry and Deanna Pamenter
