When life gives you...grumichamas

We have two grumichama trees here at Ohana. One tree had a bunch of ripe fruit and the other is loaded with baby green fruit starting to come through.

I had the brilliant idea to pick the seemingly bountiful supply of ripe grummies to make a jam. Five minutes later, it became apparent that there was never going to be enough for jam....but definitely enough for a delicious grumichama sauce!

I boiled up the fruit with a little water, mashed it with a potato masher, strained it through a sieve and back into the saucepan with a handful of sugar. 15 minutes later it had bubbled down into a delicious, fruit, cherry/berry flavoured syrup.

We enjoyed it served over frozen, store-bought vanilla cheesecake - and it was still amaze-balls!

Totes famous

Woohoo! Our teensy snippet on Queensland Weekender is finally up on the internet.

If you'd like to see it, the link is: https://au.tv.yahoo.com/plus7/queensland-weekender/-/watch/29832329/7two_1016_7qw-601/.

Feel free to watch the whole thing, or skip to the best bit, starting at about 12:50.

In the nick of time

I've said it a few times now, but Josh and I are just so lucky.

We always seem to land on our feet, or meet the right people, or pull a rabbit out of our hat at just the right moment.

Like that time we'd only been operating for a few months and Queensland Weekender called, asking to film out at our winery. We've had SO many people visit and mention they'd seen us on TV, I'm surprised how many people not only watch the show, but actually go out of their way to visit the featured places too.

Or like that time one of Josh's drinking buddies is also a volunteer firefighter with the local fire brigade, and bought the truck down to help us burn off piles of uprooted trees.

Or like yesterday - when we'd just finished off our new indoor, under cover, out of the rain seating/cafe area...before a group of 30 came for lunch, and it was BUCKETING down!

It has always been in the back of our minds that we needed somewhere for people to sit that's out of the weather - especially when summer arrives and unpredictable storms can roll in out of nowhere.

After toying with a few options, we decided that our best (ie. cheapest and quickest) option would be to move all of the junk out of our "toad shed" (actually an insulated cool room) and into the "snake shed", then move all of the winemaking equipment out of the brick cellar and into the cool room, then use the cellar as the new under covered area. This new area has a toilet, easy access to the kitchen and is surprisingly large - so it's kind of perfect (despite an average view). It still needs a bit of prettying up, but it works.

After a manic few days, we'd managed to clean it up and get it all set up, just in time. While the weather radar said it would only be a 10% chance of any showers, we decided that we'd might as well use the new area anyway...wise move! About half an hour before they were due to arrive, the skies turned dark and the rain started.

Usually Josh takes half the group to do a wine tasting with, and I'd take the other half for a guided walk around our orchard and then we would switch, then we all come back for lunch. Yesterday though, Josh and I scrambled around to pick as much fruit as we could as soon as it started sprinkling and I did an indoor fruit tasting session while he did the wine tasting in his new cellar. Not quite as fun, but definitely better than getting rained on.

One small hiccup in our plan though - despite Josh's absolute best efforts, there is still a bit of a leak in the cool room. We've spent a small fortune, and he's spent many hours waterproofing the roof and all the seals, however it was no match for yesterdays torrential downpour. There isn't water pouring in, but there is still enough sneaking in somewhere and forming a little (well, kind of big) pool along one wall.  I guess I know what this weekend's fun job will be...

The new cellar! Needs a floor paint and some pictures, but we'll get there. 

Josh's handcrafted wine barrel bar! (Isn't he clever?)

The bar, but with a freshly painted wall instead of the hideous pink. (Brand new toilet through that door too)

The dark clouds starting to form (plus the view from the new seating area)

The new seating area, sort of set up. Needs tablecloths and some artwork.

A trip to the emergency room

It's been a pretty crazy week here at Ohana.

Firstly, we somehow managed to break the tractor. It conked out right down the back of the farm, and Josh had to tow it with the ute (and me steering the tractor) back to the shed. He drove way too fast and the tractor was being towed backwards, so I'm surprised we made it back in one piece. We aren't exactly sure what has happened, but Geoff assures us that it's nothing too bad and is definitely fixable. He's got it working again for now, and will fix it properly in a few weeks once we've done all our urgent jobs.

Secondly, Josh has been feeling pretty unwell this last week, with a really tender tummy and pain when you poke around. After a quick Google, we thought it may be his appendix - so I took him to the Childers Hospital on Tuesday night.

The doctor there poked around, made him jump up and down, took his blood pressure etc. and decided that he was "too fit and healthy" to have anything wrong with him. He prescribed some Panadol and said to go to Bundaberg if it got worse overnight, otherwise get some blood tests and a CT scan the next day.

Wednesday morning, Josh had all his tests done and waited around for his results that afternoon. In the meantime I went to Bundaberg to run a few errands, with strict instructions to be home by 4pm, so Josh could take my car to the doctors, instead of his bumpy ute.

By 4:30pm, I was on my way back to Bundaberg. The scans showed up appendicitis and Josh needed surgery. We arrived at the emergency room with a copy of his results and he ushered into a bed.

The nurses asked him all the same questions, took more blood, poked around some more and then we waited for the doctor.

The doctor asked him all the same questions, checked we had a blood sample, poked around some more and then we waited for the surgeon.

The surgeon asked him all the same questions, checked we had a blood sample, poked around some more and then we waited for the verdict.

The surgeon wasn't 100% convinced that he was sick - he was too fit and healthy. He wasn't doubled over in pain, he could still move around freely, it only really hurt when poked in the appendix spot...and yet the CT scan showed up appendicitis. The surgeon said that while he wasn't 100% convinced, Josh couldn't go home and they'd operate anyway.

The next morning, Josh went into surgery and despite the dodgy scan, no "typical" symptoms, no hints in his bloodwork, he did indeed have appendicitis. The surgery went well and aside from a sore belly, he's fine. He's scheduled to come home sometime today.

In the midst of all this, we also had a group of 46 booked in for lunch, wine tasting and orchard tour...terrible timing. I had called the bus driver to explain the situation and he was totally fine with it and said he'd help me out as much as he could. Despite the unusual circumstance, the tour group were absolutely fine with it and had a really great time. They loved their lunch and enjoyed the tastings and tours, even though it took a little longer and the group was a little larger than what we usually do. It was a massive effort for Josh's mum and I to do by ourselves, but we pulled it off.

All in all, a ridiculous week at Ohana.

Our tour group happily posed for a picture to send to Josh

Poor Joshy :(

Bundy Flavours

Yesterday Josh and I went to the Bundy Flavours, held by the river in Bundaberg.

We had a strange little spot, tucked away near the tasting test and the sausage man (easy access for Breakfast). It wasn't the best spot on the day, but it was ok. The weather, however, was a nightmare! From about 9am (when the festival opened) til at least 1pm (two hours before it finished) the weather was switching between being windy and bitterly cold, to raining and windy, to 'hold onto the tent, I think it's about to blow away' windy.

It wasn't ideal.

Weather aside, the festival was ok and we sold a few bottles. Nothing major and nothing as good as some of the other festivals we've attended, but we covered our costs. Josh's mum held the fort back at the cellar door and sold nearly as much as us!

I did get to meet Matt Golinski and Alastair McLeod though, and that was pretty cool. Matt said he'd heard our interview on the radio (yep - it went State-wide!) and said he was hoping we'd be at the festival, because he wanted to meet us. He was telling Alastair all about our farm and even about some of the fruits we grow!

And Josh got to catch up with a few old friends and meet Bert, the brew master of Baffle Creek beer (his new favourite brew).

All in all, not a complete waste of a Sunday.

Me with Alastair McLeod and Matt Golinski

New Toys!

Once in a while, something pretty awesome happens.

For us, it was working "full time real jobs" for six months, and then not earning a cent for the next six months. This means we paid "full time real job" tax for six months, and then nothing since then - meaning we're due for a colossal tax refund!

Between us, we collected a little over $9000 (minus the accountants exorbitant fees :( ) ...aaaaand we've already spent it. All on the business, of course, but still, we have new toys!

1) A new tractor!
Our old beast of a tractor - with no doors, leaking oil, smashed windows etc - has finally conked it for good. After scouring Gumtree, we found a pretty good deal on a tractor in the next town. The owner is moving interstate and has slowly been reducing the price from over $25k to the measly amount we bought it for. Naturally, I don't know too much about tractors - but it's red, comes with a bunch of attachments and Geoff reckons its good, so that's good enough for me!

2) Grapes!
What's a winery without grapes!? For now, we have been sourcing our grapes from the Stanthorpe region (further south, in Queensland) where it's a little colder and there are a lot of vineyards. We've been slowly preparing to plant some vines ourselves, by removing about 100 finger lime trees (and having that epic burn off). With the new tractor, Josh will be able to turn over the ground and dig the holes for the support trusses. In a few weeks our new grafted tempranillo vines will be here! Tempranillo is a Spanish variety of red grape which doesn't mind the warmer climate. It ripens early, meaning we can hopefully harvest before the summer rains come. Our gorgeous red volcanic soil isn't ideal for wine grapes (the fruit will likely grow rapidly and produce big, plump fruit full of seeds - but not a lot of dense flavour for winemaking).  BUT - tempranillo is the best chance we've got! It'll be a great learning opportunity for us, and it'll be awesome to have our own vines.

3) Fruit Trees!
Daley's fruit tree nursery are having a sale on their spring plants - and we indulged a little. We've purchased a nice selection of trees to add to our exotic fruit orchard. We have about 10 new tropical fruit trees (mangosteens, coffee, lychees, miracle fruit and a few more I can't remember!) that we'll plant alongside our current fruit trees. We are really interested in building our fruit orchard (and orchard tours) side of our business - people love looking around the trees and it's a great activity for groups who visit, who aren't necessarily interested in wine tasting.


In other news 

• I think I might have got my first QLD speeding ticket (still waiting for the bad news in the mail) 
• Josh and I finally got our QLD drivers licences (still waiting for them in the mail too!)
• I hit my second kangaroo in Betsy (Bets and I are fine - not sure about the roo, but I think he's ok too, it was just a bump)
• I went to Rockhampton for a work conference. I was up there for three days, learnin' stuff and meeting people. I didn't get to see much while I was up there, it would have been great if I could have visited Yeppoon and a few other tourist towns while I was up there, but hey, no such luck. I got to stay in a really nice hotel on the Bruce Highway though, where my bedroom wall backed onto the 24 hour Maccas drive thru. 
• We're going to the Bundy Flavours festival on Sunday. I love festival days!
• We have more jaboticaba fruit ripe - here we go again!

Josh and his new toy!

Radio stars

“It’s very brave and exciting, what you did, Love!”

“Excuse me?”

“Packing up everything and starting a winery!”

“Oh, thank you. Yes, I suppose it is.”

“I heard all about it on the radio this morning!”

And that’s how I learned that we were radio stars! Apparently our interview (recorded about a month ago, one afternoon at the winery) was played at 6:15am on the local ABC radio ‘Country Hour’ on Monday morning.

Josh and I have been spectacularly lucky these last six months. It could be because we work hard, have met some incredibly helpful people and have a clear vision of what we want to achieve. If you ask Von, it could be because we are both 8’s and dragons. Or it could just be the universe repaying us some good vibes for taking such a huge risk. Whatever it is, I’m pretty stoked with what’s been happening lately.

We’ve managed to snag a small snippet on Queensland Weekender (tentative air date 26^th September!) and have had a few newspaper articles written about us. The most recent is an online article for ABC Wide Bay (http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2015/08/20/4296903.htm) and then later the radio interview. We’ve built up a bit of a following on social media (www.facebook.com/ohanawinery - like us if you haven’t already!)

I can honestly say that I love little old Childers. Perth was great, obviously, and all my friends and family are there and I LOVED my job, but moving to Childers has been a surprisingly easy transition for me. I love going down the street and knowing the names of the local butchers, the girls at the post office and the bank. I always keep an eye out for BK (the guy who did some bobcat work at our place) leaning up against the window at the pub. There are a few local ‘oldies’ who we’ve met who like to call by for a chat every now and again. Childers has just been so welcoming and supportive – and we’ve already met a ton of people that we can pull favours from!

One of Josh’s drinking buddies is also a volunteer firefighter, and bought the Childers Rural Fire Brigade truck out to our place last week to help with a BIG burn off. Within about an hour we had cleared up a heap of green waste…and we didn’t even set fire to the cane farm next door! It was a pretty epic fire. We even had some “concerned passers-by” (American backpackers) stop off to check that it was all ok!

We’re also planning to build a semi-permanent roof/rain proofing in our outdoor seating area. I want something new, shiny and preferably made out of colourbond. Josh and another drinking buddy reckon they’re going to rig something up out of an enormous tarp. (If it’s a tarp, its not considered permanent, therefore doesn’t require council approval). The next decision is whether we do it over our existing café area…or move the big junky cool-room (affectionately known as “the toad shed”, as opposed to the garden shed “the snake shed”) and create a new seating area. The toad shed is on a concrete slab and overlooks the orchard, so it would make an awesome seating area…..but it’s just SO much more effort!

And a new under-covered seating area will come in so handy, if our next big trick pays off. I can’t reveal anything just yet (I don’t want to jinx us!) but we have something very exciting in the works.

The massive fire

Otto, with his avocado "ball"

Kooky Booky, my bestie who comes to visit every arvo :)