EAT LOCAL MONTH

OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO, AND EAT, THIS JUNE WITH KATH ROSE

I was born in the country. So I didn’t need to learn that breathing country air is just somehow easier, that bottlefeeding a calf brings joy that lasts a lifetime and that watching things grow is one of life’s greatest miracles. It just happened. Because I was born in the country.

The Scenic Rim feels like home to me. It’s my new country and one of the most extraordinary and authentic celebrations across this region is Eat Local Month. The wonderful thing is, you don’t need to be born in the country to fall in love with the people, the paddocks, the places and the produce that make Eat Local Month incredible. You just have to show up. They will do the rest.

So without further ado, let’s plan a fantastically fabulous, flavour-filled, food adventure...

Oh, the places we’ll go, and eat, this June (thanks Dr Seuss!)... First up, grab a cuppa, the program and a pen.

Find a spot to sit and plan your adventure. I chose Worendo Cottages looking over The Lost World, because if that’s not inspiration then it just doesn’t exist! My spot came with a very nosy sheep named Bluey, who brought his whole herd over to say hi, and to share my platter! It’s OK, I didn’t let them have wine, I know an underage sheep when I see one!

Now, given the Scenic Rim stretches over 4,200 square kilometres (I know right!!), and there’s 139 Eat Local Month events, you need to plan! Trust me, it tastes better this way!

To make this easier, this year the program focuses on sub-regions across the Scenic Rim, with clustered events on separate weekends (bravo!), meaning you won’t miss a single bite.

There’s the western side with its signature patchwork of paddocks that are home to 600,000 million carrots each year (not kidding, and apologies, I haven’t counted the beans and corn yet!), and the green island in the sky in Tamborine Mountain, Beechmont and Binna Burra where whipbirds provide your dining soundtrack, and The Lost World and Kerry Valley, where the mist dances so beautifully with sunrise every morning, creating a very special kind of magic.

You can stay a day, a weekend or longer, and choose your events – long lunches and degustations (there’s 37), workshops and classes (there’s 43), family events, tours and experiences (there’s 53), meet the producer adventures and more. Trust me, you definitely need to wear stretchy pants!

What I love most about Eat Local Month is the range of experiences at vineyards and breweries, mountaintops to wood-fired cafes, under 120 year old jacaranda trees, in flower fields, on dairies, in olive groves, carrot paddocks and right across the region’s best restaurants.

Scenic Rim Food Ambassadors

Alison Alexander – Queensland Food Fellow

Ash Martin – Eden Health Retreat

Brenda Fawdon – Picnic Real Food Bar

Cameron Matthews – Mapleton Public House

Caroline Jones – Three Girls Skipping

Glen Barratt – Wild Canary

Javier Codina – Moda

Josh Lopez – Monstera Group

Kate Raymont – Scenic Rim Farm Shop & Café

Richard Ousby – Ousby Food

Jack Stuart – Blume and The Bowl at Boonah

Simon Furley – The Paddock, Beechmont Estate

A little history - when Eat Local Week began in 2011, as the passion project of a few farmers and locals, 10 events were staged, attended by a few hundred people.

In 2014, the program featured 80 events with 15,000 attendees and last year, in 2022, there were 125 events and almost 40,000 attendees. Now it’s a full month because there was just waaaaay too much flavour to pack into a week, and this year, there’s 139 events. #YouAreWelcome

It is truly the ultimate paddock-to-plate backstage pass, and if I had to pick a *top 5 new events, this would be a starter…

*On June 2, chef Jack Stuart hosts the first ever Blume X Witches Falls Degustation Dinner at Tamborine Mountain. What a way to start! And PS, their 2021 Wild Ferment Chardonnay is amazing (#justsaying)!

*Attention Petal Lovers – on June 9 there’s an event that will break Instagram, Floravesence – An Evening in the Flowers at the Scenic Rim Farm Shop & Café and Elderflower Farm's flower field. Plus, there’s floralinspired cocktails from Cauldron Distillery. Now this is blooming brilliant!

*For something really special, head to the sixth generation Tommerup’s Dairy Farm, recently given the Innovation title at the prestigious Australian Farmer of the Year Awards. On the weekend of 23-25 June, Kay and Dave Tommerup will host two new events in Our Bread and Butter-Simple Farmhouse Pleasures masterclass, and the Tommerup’s Feast on the Farm with guest chef Richard Ousby. This place is the epitome of Heart Farming.

*Can we talk pickles? It’s a major thing - it saves wastage, extends shelf life and is an age-old food craft, which means, it’s cool! The inaugural Fermented Food Festival is on June 10, celebrating this taste-bud blowing world of food fermentation, and hosted by Summer Land Camels and the Pickling Project

*If you have met the internationally famous Hercules the Sheep (think WINX, but shorter, fatter and woollier), then you know that he’s the perfect star for the inaugural Eat Local Month running of the famous Towri Twilight Woolly Cup on Sunday 25 June. Local produce and Towri’s famous Lavender Punch seal the deal for me.

That’s just five events, there’s 134 more to experience!

This is a region of great abundance, of inspiring people, of innovation and ideas, of collaboration, of stories, of steep descents and breathtaking views, of ancient footprints, of herds beyond the fences, of resting places new and old, of rich soil and clear waterholes, of generations of farmers and pathmakers, and of flavours and flavour makers the envy of the world.

This June, come and enjoy. Breathe that country air. You’ll see what I mean.

BON APPETIT and remember to always tread lightly, because tomorrow is just as important as today.

To plan your flavour-filled food adventure, visit eatlocalmonth.com.au