ARMY TAKE OVER

By Samantha Elley

A small group of journalists are huddled in the courtyard of Trinity College.

The school has been empty since the February 2022 foods but last week it was alive with members of the 7th/8th Battalion of the Australian Army. As darkness falls, members of the battalion work their way through the empty rooms and corridors looking for civilians and an opposing force.

We journalists have been escorted to our point where we can take photos of the action.

Gunshots go off and lights fash in the empty pool area, but it is all an exercise for the battalion.

Major Ben Carolan is the exercise coordinator for Exercise Ever Ready Ram which includes 120 soldiers.

“This whole activity is designed preparing our force for being rapidly deployable to any operation around the globe at short notice,” he said.

Major Carolan said the whole activity is designed around a low level confict or stability operations.

“We train for a wide range of different operations such as peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and potentially confict if required,” he sources local organic harvest and by-products from food processing to minimise food miles.

The Shedhouse Farm tag line is ‘Real food, low travel’; and the goal is no-waste processing.

For example, Mick salvages the residue remaining after pecan powder, smoked habanero chilli and some South Australian salt to produce a punchy rub for meats, fsh or vegetables.

Shedhouse Farm pickles are fermented using solely brine. This gives a favour profle more similar to the original vegetable than

The ingenious Shedhouse Farm products can be purchased online, at a few local retailers and at the Rotary Kyogle Bazaar. And there are plans for fermentation workshops to help ‘Preserve preservation’ says Mick.