It started as a simple idea to fill vacant land between turf paddocks.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Anna Fraser and Andrew Coombe now have a giant field of sunflowers in bloom on their Lorn Turf farm and they are keen to share the happiness the big blooms radiate.
From 8am on Saturday, December 19 the couple will throw open the gates on their Hicks Road farm.
Not only can you buy a bunch of the feel good blooms but you can also go take photographs of the mass of blooms.
An Instagrammer's dream.
Until noon there will be a coffee cart and a range of little animals to fuss over.
Along with Alro the baby goat they have ducklings, chicks and lambs who are also not camera shy.
The field of sunflowers came about by chance.
"We had an acre spare between our turf and we just thought, what can we put there as a breaker between our Kikuyu and buffalo," said Anna.
"We just thought why not plant something that's pretty to look at for me and Andrew when we are work every day.
"So we thought why not give sunflowers a go."
When they started to flower, friends urged them to "do something" with the field of gold.
They had a sale last weekend selling around 450 flowers and are expecting similar crowds after plenty of interest generated on their Facebook page.
"It was really fun last weekend, a lot of people brought their kids along and they loved the animals," said Anna.
"It was fun for us too."
The blooms are in bunches of 5 for $10 or $2 each and unusual coloured ones - red tones - will be $3 each.
Because they have planted a whole acre at four different stages they expect to have blooms for the next three months.
Next year they plan on planting the whole acre at once and having a big one day event sale.
So what makes sunflowers so popular?
Anna said she never fully realised the "happy factor" of the plant.
"When you get a bunch of them together and put them in a vase it just makes you so happy when you walk in a room and see them.
She said it was "pretty cool" to watch the sunflowers following the sun during the day.
The couple lease the farm from Anna's family who have had the land for generations.
IN THE NEWS
Do you know you can subscribe to get full access to all Maitland Mercury stories? Subscribing supports us in our local news coverage. To subscribe, click here.