{"id":77315,"date":"2014-08-06T22:35:55","date_gmt":"2014-08-06T12:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=77315"},"modified":"2020-11-27T14:45:01","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T04:45:01","slug":"wanted-a-home-to-put-down-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/08\/06\/wanted-a-home-to-put-down-roots\/","title":{"rendered":"Wanted: A Home To Put Down Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Growing the Burnett secretary Rosemary Pratt salvages spring onions for replanting while Tarnya Cecchin harvests young carrots which will be sold at this week’s Farmers Markets in Kingaroy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 7, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Growing The Burnett is looking for a new home and will be gone from their old Memerambi farm by the end of this week.<\/p>\n

Volunteers and committee members of the “social enterprise” farming group have been busy over the past three weeks dismantling equipment, including the cold room erected on site, storage sheds, irrigation gear and the “growing tunnels” for seedlings.<\/p>\n

They have also been harvesting as many of the crops as possible.<\/p>\n

Growing The Burnett has been training South Burnett residents in small acreage farming and has been encouraging trainees who have passed through programs on site to launch their own businesses.<\/p>\n

GTB organiser Brian Jarvis said yesterday three of the group’s current farmers had managed to relocate their businesses from the Memerambi farm to other sites.<\/p>\n

“They have been re-established in their own places so they can continue on,” Brian said.<\/p>\n

However many of the crops in the ground at the “Red Earth Meadows Farm” at Memerambi would have to be abandoned.<\/p>\n

Brian said equipment from the site had been placed into storage.<\/p>\n

“It’s cost us nearly $3000 to move and that’s doing it 90 per cent by ourselves,” he said.<\/p>\n

The group is now looking for a new place to set up – either to lease, or lease-to-buy.<\/p>\n

“We’ll adapt to whatever we can get but it must have water,” Brian said.<\/p>\n

“I want to emphasise that we are not giving up. And I am not going to panic.<\/p>\n

“The committee has decided we are going to keep on pushing forward.”<\/p>\n

Brian said Growing The Burnett would be holding a meeting from 5:30pm on Monday, August 18, at the Taabinga Room at the DAFF Complex opposite Kingaroy Airport (the former DPI building) to discuss the best way forward for the group.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, in the meantime, the Thursday Farmers Markets will continue as usual in O’Neill Square in Kingaroy.<\/p>\n

Anyone with fresh local produce to sell is invited to contact Brian on 0417-756-528.<\/p>\n

The markets will get underway at 1:00pm today and will run until 6:00pm.<\/p>\n

Brian said he would be taking a break this week from cooking his “street food” at the markets, but would be back on deck next Thursday.<\/p>\n

Related articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n