Sunflowers are blooming brightly and covering fields in blankets of yellow this summer 2024 and the Quirindi region welcomes locals and travellers to visit the spectacular show these flowers are providing. The Pursehouse Rural branch located in Quirindi donated three plots worth of sunflower seeds, and the most thrilling part of the process is finally here.
Located in the Liverpool Plains and surrounds, farmers are opening their farms for visitors to enjoy the beauty of the sunflowers and the hard work these farmers have put in. Ian Carter and Geoff Barwick are two of the many farmers opening their fields to the public this Summer. These sunflower patches are located across Quirindi, Willow Tree, Windy Station, and Kelahers.
The Sunflower Process 2024
Some of the sunflower seeds were jointly donated by Pursehouse Rural Quirindi and Barenbrug and sown by farmers during the last week of October to set flower during summer the following year. The crops received substantial rainfall towards the end of 2023 and the sunflowers soaked up the rain in addition to a minimum of 6-8 hours of sunlight per day.
Farmers have worked extremely hard to grow these sunflowers and face unique weather challenges, however, they are delighted to have visitors on the farm to enjoy all their hard work.
Wise Words from a Sunflower Farmer
The Pursehouse Rural team was lucky enough to speak to Ian Cater and Geoff Barwick to learn about the sunflower growing conditions and get their opinions on the impacts these events have on them and the locals.
Ian Carter planted the sunflower seeds later than initially planned and stated that “Planting conditions were challenging to start with cause it was pretty dry, we couldn’t get them in when we wanted to, so it was a little bit later than they should’ve been but when we actually planted them it was perfect, so it was good.”
We asked Ian how well the sunflowers grew this year and Ian said, “Well you can see by the height of them they [the sunflowers] have done particularly well.”
Events like this are particularly important for smaller communities and the farmers who plant the sunflowers purely for people to enjoy and visit the area are happy to see people come from far and wide to see the sunflowers. Geoff states that it “Makes him pretty happy”.
Growing A sunflower Community
Over the previous years, this blooming process has become popular within the community, locals from surrounding areas, and travellers. This 2024, Quirindi locals have organised a Sunflower Garden Competition, a smaller sunflower-growing event held within the community. Other activities have been arranged by the council to highlight such a golden event for the Liverpool Plains.
Members of Liverpool Plains community enjoy the support of the rural town and small businesses from the visitors.
