Herbs are a great healthy way to pack a flavour punch in your cooking, without the need for added salt. You may have seen Gourmet Garden’s brand of dried herbs and pastes at your local shops and supermarkets. Today, as part of the QCWA Country Kitchens program exciting new initiative ‘Meet a Farmer’, we get to learn a little more about farmer Trevor Goos, the man behind the coriander, parsley, mixed herbs, basil and chives at Gourmet Gardens! Meet a Farmer aims to utilize the QCWA roots in agriculture and develop partnerships with players within the agricultural food systems. We are identifying QCWA members connected with farmers in their community to showcase their farm, produce, and lifestyle. We hope sharing the care and love that goes into growing Queensland food will promote a local eating movement in regional, rural, and remote communities, as well as increase the fruit and vegetable consumption of Queenslanders. Keep a look out for more Country Kitchens events that partner these amazing farmers with our Fabulous Facilitators for marketplaces, community gardens and more!
QCWA Country Kitchens Health Promotion Team Leaders, Aleks and Katy, recently visited Agnes Waters to deliver a Hands-on Nutrition Workshop and took the opportunity to visit local farms with QCWA Country Kitchens facilitator Maree McKelvie. One of their first stops was to herb and dryland farmer Trevor Goos in Biloela. Country Kitchens facilitator Maree McKelvie is a proud member of QCWA Tannum Sands branch and Division President for QCWA Port Curtis Division. Maree is passionate about supporting local community businesses and farmers. She was excited to be a part of the Meet a Farmer project at Country Kitchens and set to work building connections with local farmers in her area.
Country Kitchens Health Promotion Team Leader Katy Li, Herb Farmer Trevor Goos and Country Kitchens Health Promotion Team Leader Aleks Lukovic standing in front of Trevor’s gas weeder.
Pulling up to Trevor Goos’s property, you can smell the delicious scent of freshly cut chives. The team is busy harvesting and preparing for the chives to be picked up and sent to the Gourmet Garden’s processing facility in Palmwoods. Trevor is primarily involved in herb production, starting in early March with coriander, parsley and chives and then beginning basil production in September till February. It is a year-round operation on Trevor’s property, but he is lucky enough to have a great crew, allowing for everyone to get some rest throughout the year.
Trevor and his grandson on the farm.
Trevor’s farming story began with his Grandfather:
“I was lucky enough to be born into a farming family. My grandfather came to this area in 1938 and I am proud to be a part of that heritage and carry on my family tradition, it is great to see things grow in that time with new technology and innovations”
One of the innovations that has changed the way Trevor farms the most is called a Gas Weeder or Flame Weeder. Flame weeding is the killing of weeds with intense heat produced by a fuel-burning device, either hand-held or tractor-mounted. The goal is not to set weeds on fire, but rather to damage the cell structure of their foliage.
“Rather than using herbicides or sprays we use a machine called a gas weeder. This uses heat to burn the weeds before planting… gas weeding has completely changed the way we farm. Allowing us to not use chemicals and still produce a great product. It provides minimal interruption to the plant”
It is clear in our conversation that Trevor is passionate about the quality of herbs that he puts up. This stems from his love of living on the land, which has been passed down through his family.
“Sowing a seed and seeing it come from a seed to a shoot a week later, then seeing the rows of herbs gives you a sense of pride in your work.”
Herbs are a quick moving crop, with harvesting and planting occurring weekly once the ground has been prepared.
“For a crop like coriander we prepare the ground January, February and March and over a couple of months you will work the ground to prepare a seed bed. We then put in organic fertilizer pre planting. End of March/April we begin planting. We plant every week for about 7 to 8 weeks. Sometimes planting and harvesting will overlap in that time. Once harvesting begins we are harvesting every week. Herbs are stored in the cold room and the truck will come in the evening or early next day, when the herbs are sent to Palmwoods for processing and drying.”
Trevor is proud to be a producer for Gourmet Gardens as it helps limit food waste by extending the shelf life of his herbs through processing procedures that do not use any additives, preservatives or chemicals.
“With Gourmet Garden you can just keep the herbs in the fridge or freezer, and they last for up to 4 weeks.”
Next time you pick up herbs from the shop, we hope you will think of Trevor and his team. If you are feeling inspired, try giving our delicious chimichurri recipe go, featuring one of Trevor’s key products, parsley! If you would like to get involved with the QCWA, head to QCWA’s website to find a branch near you. Or, if you are already a QCWA member and would like to be part of the QCWA Country Kitchens program or the Meet a Farmer initiative contact us at countrykitchens@qcwa.org.au or visit the QCWA Country Kitchen’s website.
The QCWA Country Kitchens program is funded by the Queensland Government through Health and Wellbeing Queensland.
Industry: Dryland/Herb Farming
Location: Biloela, Queensland
QCWA Division: Port Curtis
QCWA Connection: Maree McKelvie, Division President, Port Curtis Division, QCWA member, Tannum Sands Branch
