I really am a country kid at heart | Warren Hanna

For 33 years my Mum (Dianne) and Dad (Howard) have been at the farm in Cosgrove South, 17 km east of Shepparton. Although only a hobby farm by neighbour’s standards, the farm is over 100 acres and we have had many adventures and life experiences on the land.

Dad and Mum gave us a great start in life. They were always keen for my sister Megan and I to experience new things and try new ideas. Dad and Mum were really into conservation and the environment. I remember one time when Dad, a lecturer at Dookie Agriculture College, encouraged students to participate in a field trip to plant over 400 native trees in the 30 acres west of our house. Almost 20 years later and the paddocks has now become a landmark along the Midland Highway. The natural vegetation and the wildlife is now prevalent.

I remember another time Mum organised a Melbourne high school to come and camp in our paddocks to gain a country experience. They were studying astronomy and for my sister and I who were primary school kids at the time, it was a great experience to have older kids at our place using telescopes to study the solar system.

I also have great memories of shooting hares, marking lambs, raising potty calves and camping in the paddocks with mates, but without a doubt, the highlight of growing up on the farm was our mini Moke. I honestly don’t remember learning how to drive. My sister and I would spend many hours driving around the farm. My mates also loved coming out to the farm to have a drive of the Moke. There is no doubt that it was always a lot of fun, however Dad, from any early age, drilled into us the fact that driving can be dangerous. I remember being out in the middle of the paddock when it was raining and I was driving. Without warning Dad reached over and spun the steering wheel. We spun around a number of times in the mud and it really reinforced just how quickly and easily you can lose control. I still remember the feeling of being out of control in the Moke and this lesson has no doubt held me in good stead throughout my adult life, to the point where I’m yet to have a car accident (touch wood).

Dad was known throughout our extended family for his great ideas. Being out of town, we collected rain water for drinking, and bore water for the gardens and toilets. I remember complaining one summer’s day about the fact that I was hot and I wanted to go for a swim. Dad came up with the idea that we could swim in the bore water tank. The closed in tank was about 12 foot high, 6 feet wide, with about 8 feet deep water. The man hole to climb in is about 3 feet by 3 feet, meaning that it takes some time for your eyes to adjust to the dark. It is also black and attracted the sun, so the top foot or so of water was really quite warm yet the rest of it was freezing cold as it was pumped straight out of the ground. A 10 min swim chills you to the bone and is enough to survive an afternoon of 40 degree heat. Over a number of summers, my sister and I developed many games in the tank to pass our time. We would sit under the freezing cold water as it was pumped into the tank, dive for golf balls and have frog races. I even remember one Christmas we had over 16 of us in the tank at one time including both of my 80 plus year old grandparents, diving for golf balls on the bottom in the pitch black. The swimming tradition continued last Christmas, with my son Riley having his first swim in the tank. It wasn’t a very warm day and I got in, he only lasted a matter of seconds, but for a 3 year old it was pretty scary, and I’m very proud of him for giving it a go, and I’m definitely claiming it as a swim. To be honest however, I think he was actually more impressed with the 16 frogs that currently call the tank their home.

Other ideas that Dad has had over the years include Teflon tape on the dogs bowl to stop the ants being able to climb into the food. Raising yellow belly fish in the tank to stop them getting eaten by birds. Raising many animals including emus, a kangaroo, a magpie and many lambs who had been separated from their mothers.

There is no doubt however that Dad’s most successfully idea has definitely been our olive trees. In 2000 Mum and Dad planted over 50 trees in our front paddock. For the past 7 or so years the crop has been increasing to the point that a big SOS goes out each year around mother’s days for pickers to come back to Cosgrove South for a “farm experience”. This is become a great tradition, one that my children Riley & Lucy look forward to each year. Last year was our biggest crop, over 440kg’s of olives, which equated to 110 litres of oil. Dad takes it to an Italian man on the other side of Shepparton who uses a traditional olive press to make traditional olive oil. Although the quality is well and truly good enough, Mum and Dad don’t produce the oil for commercial purpose. They get more pleasure out of gifting it to their family and friends, and those who have been fortunate enough to taste it (including the JBS team) continue to ask when the next crop is due.

I could go on and on about my memories of the farm and I really feel fortunate to have had such great experiences growing up. Megan and I really learnt some important lessons and a lot about life. My goal now as a father is to continue passing on my parents attitude to life which is have a go, try new things as you never know what might happen.