Australian Country

They say it takes a village to raise a child and the same may be said for a magazine, though perhaps more like a small country town. So many people have contributed to this issue, as we’ve had to be extra nimble gathering content during the lockdowns

You feel it as soon as you hit town. There’s an energy about Goondiwindi, home to approximately 6000 people on the Queensland-NSW border. Gundy, as everyone calls it, may be a service town for the surrounding agricultural industry, but there’s a touc

James Pearson candidly admits that when he first started converting his beef cattle business to organics, it was something he almost confessed to in a whisper. “I’m pretty sure most people expected me to have a bushy beard and long hair in a ponytail

2.25kg leg of ham½ cup (170g) orange marmalade1 tablespoon fresh orange juice1 tablespoon Dijon mustard2 cloves garlic, crushed Salt and cracked black pepper, to taste Whole cloves, to garnish Preheat the oven to 180°C. Carefully remove the rind fro

Serves 4 2 tablespoons olive oil800g trimmed Cleaver’s Organic beef chuck steak, cut into 5cm pieces1 small red onion, halved, sliced thinly2 teaspoons sweet paprika400g can cherry tomatoes250ml (1 cup) reduced-salt beef stock600g butternut pumpkin,

The old adage that you don’t know what’s around the corner couldn’t have been more accurate back in 2009 when Clare Warby settled down for a quiet night in, watching TV with her mother. Pretty much on a whim they tuned into Farmer Wants a Wife just

Truffle farmer Damian Robinson is striding along a line of hazelnut trees, charting the mysteriously symbiotic relationships in the fungal world, when he offers a theory: “We are one chromosome removed from a pig and that’s probably why we like the s

If Nick Osmond hadn’t injured his Achilles tendon twice in three months, he may never have picked up a paintbrush and discovered his talent for semi-abstract portraiture. “There’s only so much gardening you can do on crutches,” he observes. “Ten days

“Good luck, good management and a good husband.” Midwife and novelist Fiona McArthur doesn’t hesitate when she’s asked about the secret to success in her writing and long career delivering babies in a rural community. Fiona has just had her eighth “b

As Mike Webster surveys his domain from the top of the giant copper fermentation tanks at the Scenic Rim Brewery, he explains how a former builder came to be living and working in Mount Alford, a tiny south-east Queensland town that was once more fam

Two things precipitated the Bath family’s move to Maitland 19 years ago — a tiring commute to work each day from the Central Coast and a growing family that needed more space. Benjamin and Sue Bath decided to relocate to a town where industry and inf

Serves4 I’ve mentioned the television series that I recently filmed in Cornwall often in this book, mainly because most of the recipes in the programs are for dishes I cook at home a lot. The runaway success of the series was this Apple Charlotte, wh

As a child living in country South Australia, Léonie (Lee) Kelsall recalls her parents turning the lights out at night and being so engrossed in whatever she was reading that she’d hide under the covers and continue reading by torch light. “Eventuall

Serves 4 Here is one of Spice Temple’s classic dishes that I think is perfect for summer, served with rice and perhaps some steamed Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. The pork itself is easy to cook — just remember to allow a day or two beforehand f

Le Forge’s contemporary Provence garden urn, priced from $395, makes a statement in any setting with its clean lines. Made with high-quality glazed terracotta, it’s available in black, olive and cream. leforge.com.au Just Country’s Montana Silvers

I started reading your magazine one day while sitting with a coffee in the Japanese Garden at Cowra. We had retired to Queensland but frequently drove to Melbourne and vice versa, and we felt fortunate to discover swathes of Australia we had never pr

We appreciate your thoughts and in each issue, one correspondent wins a prize. Simply email Kirsty at kmckenzie@umco. com.au or write to us at Australian Country, Locked Bag 154, North Ryde NSW 1670. We reserve the right to edit lengthy letters befor

We’ve an exciting story list for your reading pleasure. We’ve been to Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills, where we visited The Cedars, the former family home and studio of the renowned artist Hans Heysen. We also visited Highfields in south-east Queensla

64 Thompson St Hamilton, Vic 3280 ph: (03) 5572 2516 w: baimbridge.com.au 197 Ryrie St Geelong, Vic 3220 ph: 0417 913 192 e: melissa@bellecouleur.com.au w: bellecouleur.com.au ph: 1300 696 378 w: birdsnest.com.au 43 Beverage Dr, Tullarmarine Vic 304