Hear from Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day president Penny Morgan ahead of this year's event
On behalf of the Experience Gidgegannup committee, I am thrilled to welcome you to the 18th annual Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day.
This year's theme — Sexy Soils: What Lies Beneath — highlights the importance of healthy soil for successful gardening and farming, with speakers and related products on hand.
Attendees will enjoy a variety of regular attractions, including the Honey Festival, Slow Olive Festival and the Alpaca Expo, plus live music, horsemanship, dog work and children's hands-on activities focused on the theme.
Watch the exciting equestrian events in the arena, marvel at sheep dogs in action, and see sheep being shorn.
There will also be the latest machinery on display for your patch of country.
Children will be amused and educated by roving fairies and performances by the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre.
They can even make a worm farm to take home or pot up a seedling.
We are also expanding the popular Up the Garden Path garden section, offering plants for sale and local gardening advice.
The event also features a hall with local food, wine and distillery businesses showcasing their products.
Head here for a tasty treat or a bottle of local produce to take home and enjoy.
This year we are very happy to welcome back many of our trusted previous exhibitors and also a big welcome to newcomers.
Our thanks to our major sponsors Countryman newspaper, Mundaring Community Bank and City of Swan.
We will also be having many activities for the younger visitors, all related to our rural environment — the Mundaring Community Bank Marquee Discovery Trail, the delightful Freedom Fairies, all entertaining and educating.
We are very fortunate again this year to have events within our event.
The Honey Festival not only provides tasty honey but so much information on the importance of these hardworking pollinators and information on beekeeping.
The Olive Festival, run by the Swan Valley and Eastern Hills Slow Food group, joins us for the third year, with information on growing and using olives and olive oil.
And, of course, the two-day Alpaca Expo with animal judging, information and alpaca products for sale.
As always, we have a great line-up of speakers for every area.
Check the times and venues in this program; whatever your interest, we can offer you cattle, sheep, goats, trees, poultry, bees, horticulture or food.
This is a wonderful day out for the whole family — enjoy.
The Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day is located at the Gidgegannup Showgrounds at 2171 Toodyay Road.
Penny Morgan is the Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day chairwoman
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West Australian
26-05-2025
- West Australian
Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day: Fun for all ages as patrons celebrate theme ‘Sexy Soil: The Power Beneath'
The 18th Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day promises to be a great day out, with this year's theme 'Sexy Soil: The Power Beneath' set to highlight how important high-quality soil is for gardening and farming alike. Each year, the Perth Hills come alive with crowds who want to celebrate the best of small landholdings, country living, and farming, with the field day attracting people from the Perth CBD, Perth Hills and across the Wheatbelt. Among the attractions are gardening and livestock displays, various guest speaker presentations, a machinery section, a sheep dog display, woodturners demonstrations, the WA Alpaca Expo, and more. It is also home to WA's Honey Festival and Olive Festival, which are held at the event and on the same day as a way to boost visitor numbers to all three events. More than 6000 people flocked through the gates of last year's event, which was themed 'Toadstools, Mushrooms and Fungi'. This year, the attention is on what's beneath the ground surface. Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day chair Penny Morgan, who took the reins last year after being part of the event since it began in 2007, said this year's event would celebrate the importance of soil. 'Soil is where everything starts,' she said. 'For both gardening and farming, if you get the soil right, everything follows.' Ms Morgan said this year's event came at an interesting time, with an influx of 'tree changers' moving to the Perth Hills since COVID-19, more five-acre blocks opening up in the area and more locals trying their hand at gardening. 'Once again, our event will be family friendly, interactive, and have something for everyone of all ages, with lots of hands-on activities for the kids,' Ms Morgan said. 'The Field Day is a great way to share lots of local knowledge ... at a time when there is a lot happening in the Gidgegannup area.' There will be a range of roving entertainment on offer around the grounds, for children and adults alike. Children will be amused and educated by roving fairies and performances by the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. They can even make a worm farm to take home or pot up a seedling. In the livestock section, guests can see goat, poultry, llama, alpaca, sheep and cattle displays, and for the first time beautiful Babydoll sheep. A dedicated garden area — called Up the Garden Path — has about eight displays from nurseries and soil-focused businesses which aim to provide help and advice for those growing plants both indoors and outdoors. The cafe and entertainment centre has entertainment throughout the day, including puppetry, storytelling from the Freedom Fairies, and much more. Around the grounds will be the Mad Tatters dancing, singer Paul Davies, the Enchanted Stilt walkers and so much more, as well as a new Gardeners Dell over by the cafe and entertainment area. Tickets cost $15 for adults, with those aged 16 and under able to enter for free, and are available at the gate on the day or online by searching Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day on Humanitix. The Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day is on May 25. To read the official program, pick up a copy of the May 15 edition of Countryman.
West Australian
26-05-2025
- West Australian
Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day: Thousands flock to an enchanting day of discovery
Enchanting fairies, cuddly animals and a delicious smorgesbord of food delights paved the way for a festive 18th annual Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day that was both educational and a barrel of good old country fun. The event, held at the Gidgegannup Agricultural Showgrounds on Sunday, May 25, bought an evenly flow of 6000 visitors to enjoy a full program of all things that grow on small properties with the help from a field of leading experts. Field day president Penny Morgan said the climatic weather, with a few spurts of rain, didn't deter the crowd, 'most knowing the benefit of May showers'. 'The bits of good rain coincided with this year's theme Sexy Soils, both ingredients required for healthy gardens and productive farm outputs,' she said. 'Visitors flocked to the undercover venues during brief rain showers and were happy to satisfy their appetite for some of the informative talks.' The field day provided an abundance of expert advice on small landowner gardening and the second-year return of The Garden Path had a selection of plant sellers providing a range of tube stock for sale. It was a foodies delight at the 4th annual Slow Olive Festival site hosted by the Swan Valley and Eastern Districts Slow Food Convivium with Italian cooking instructor Concetta Sultan serving up a platter of local produced finger foods available for tasting. The festival included an olive oil competition that was won by Mt Barker-based Wild Olive Farm owner Megan Aitken. Judge Barry Sander said Ms Aitken's entry had 'fresh grassy herb notes with complexity, was smooth and creamy on the palate with fresh herb flavour for added depth'. It was an unbee-lievable day at the 2nd annual Honey Festival where visitors indulged in sweetness. There was plenty of edible products available for sale and tips on how to design a bee friendly garden. The honey and wax competition had 60 entries and taking home the overall award was Ferawati, of Chittering, whose entry was a wax sculptured candle. The animals on exhibit included Paragon Miniature Herefords, Gindoon Babydoll sheep, and a wide selection of stud goats, poultry and alpacas. At the 15th annual Alpaca Expo, four age groups of youth paradors were judged on their skills in handling alpacas through a walking course. Judge Kurtis Parker of Goulburn in NSW said the participants had 'good animal control, were gentle and remained calm'. The overall winner was Matelyn Stacey, 8, whose family runs the Banksia Park alpaca stud in Serpentine. WA Alpaca Association president Tara Ravenhill said the expo had 50 alpacas on display with visitors interested in what the animals were all about. 'The expo followed on from Saturday's Gidgegannup Alpaca Show (May 24) with 117 animals in the competition, our stud Bedrock Alpacas was proud to take home the supreme Huacaya and Suri titles,' she said. The inaugural Gidgegannup Young Farmer Challenge produced a first-time entrant winning team including Dylan Williams of Chidlow, James Brims of Mt Richon, Callan Parker of Stoneville and Zachary Charlton of Parkwood. WA Next Generation Association president Josh Antonio said 'they came in blind but asked the right questions and got on with the job'.
West Australian
15-05-2025
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Hear from Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day president Penny Morgan ahead of this year's event
On behalf of the Experience Gidgegannup committee, I am thrilled to welcome you to the 18th annual Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day. This year's theme — Sexy Soils: What Lies Beneath — highlights the importance of healthy soil for successful gardening and farming, with speakers and related products on hand. Attendees will enjoy a variety of regular attractions, including the Honey Festival, Slow Olive Festival and the Alpaca Expo, plus live music, horsemanship, dog work and children's hands-on activities focused on the theme. Watch the exciting equestrian events in the arena, marvel at sheep dogs in action, and see sheep being shorn. There will also be the latest machinery on display for your patch of country. Children will be amused and educated by roving fairies and performances by the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. They can even make a worm farm to take home or pot up a seedling. We are also expanding the popular Up the Garden Path garden section, offering plants for sale and local gardening advice. The event also features a hall with local food, wine and distillery businesses showcasing their products. Head here for a tasty treat or a bottle of local produce to take home and enjoy. This year we are very happy to welcome back many of our trusted previous exhibitors and also a big welcome to newcomers. Our thanks to our major sponsors Countryman newspaper, Mundaring Community Bank and City of Swan. We will also be having many activities for the younger visitors, all related to our rural environment — the Mundaring Community Bank Marquee Discovery Trail, the delightful Freedom Fairies, all entertaining and educating. We are very fortunate again this year to have events within our event. The Honey Festival not only provides tasty honey but so much information on the importance of these hardworking pollinators and information on beekeeping. The Olive Festival, run by the Swan Valley and Eastern Hills Slow Food group, joins us for the third year, with information on growing and using olives and olive oil. And, of course, the two-day Alpaca Expo with animal judging, information and alpaca products for sale. As always, we have a great line-up of speakers for every area. Check the times and venues in this program; whatever your interest, we can offer you cattle, sheep, goats, trees, poultry, bees, horticulture or food. This is a wonderful day out for the whole family — enjoy. The Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day is located at the Gidgegannup Showgrounds at 2171 Toodyay Road. Penny Morgan is the Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day chairwoman
