Winter on the Farm... Rain, New Beginnings and Plenty to Smile About

Winter has certainly been keeping us busy, and for once we're not complaining about the weather!

After a couple of challenging seasons, the winter rain has been a welcome sight. Our crops are looking fantastic, paddocks are greening up beautifully and there's something incredibly satisfying about watching everything come to life again.

Olive harvest complete

Yesterday (20 July) we wrapped up our olive harvest for another year. Harvest day is always a big team effort, but it's one of those jobs that leaves everyone with a real sense of accomplishment. Now we wait patiently to taste this season's oil.

A new chapter for Garryowen Direct Beef

One of the biggest highlights over the past few weeks was launching our very first bulk mince run... and what a response!

We sold all 450kg of our fresh grass-fed beef mince. It was something we'd been thinking about for a while, and seeing so many families jump on board was incredibly encouraging.

We'll definitely be doing another mince run every few months and we're already tossing around the idea of adding fresh sausages as well.

One thing we've learnt over the last couple of years is that some of our best ideas come from our customers. So if there's a product you'd love to see us offer, please let us know. We may not be able to do everything straight away, but we're always keen to hear your suggestions and see what's possible in the future.

School holidays done right

The school holidays were anything but quiet around here. Our son spent much of his break helping with cattle work at our northern block in the Southern Flinders.

One of my favourite parts of these holidays wasn't actually the work itself... it was seeing him officially join the payroll. He was absolutely stoked to be earning his own money.

Living on a farm in a small country town means there aren't many opportunities for teenagers to pick up a casual job. Years ago, helping on the family farm was simply what you did. It was a labour of love and everyone pitched in because that's how family farms worked.

That spirit is still very much alive, but we also think it's important our kids learn the value of earning a dollar. Turning up on time, recording their hours, understanding that hard work earns a wage, learning to budget and save... they're life skills that will stay with them forever.

So this winter I found myself wearing a few extra hats. Mum became his first boss, first payroll officer and first bookkeeper. Together we set up his bank accounts, talked about saving versus spending, and worked through lodging his very first online timesheet.

Watching him take that first step towards financial independence has been just as rewarding as seeing everything he achieved on the farm.

Happy cattle

We've also been making the most of the fantastic season by moving another group of our Beef Direct cattle from one beautiful property to some incredibly lush Barossa pasture. With so much fresh feed around, they're certainly not doing it tough!

A trip to Parachilna

Another highlight this month was delivering one of our Poll Hereford bulls to a new customer at Parachilna.

One of the best parts of breeding stud cattle is seeing where our genetics end up and meeting the people who will continue their story.

This trip gave Mark and me the perfect excuse for a quick lunch date at the Prairie Hotel before taking the scenic drive home through Brachina Gorge. It had been far too long since we'd travelled through that part of the Flinders.

The country looked spectacular after the recent rain, and we loved meeting such an enthusiastic station manager who clearly has enormous pride in the property. You can tell a lot about a place by the people who care for it, and we drove home knowing our bull was heading to a fantastic station with a bright future.

Thank you

Whether you've ordered beef from us, purchased a Poll Hereford bull, shared one of our posts, recommended us to a friend or simply enjoy following along with life on the farm, thank you.

Your support means our family can continue doing what we love while producing quality food and livestock for South Australian families and producers.

As always, there are plenty of jobs waiting, plenty of plans brewing and hopefully plenty more rain to come. We look forward to sharing the next chapter with you.