What puts a twinkle in King Charles' eye and earns you a wink from the sovereign? Talking about weeds. So learned Hannah Greenshields and Tim Eyes, from The Food Farm when they took part in a very special barbecue on Tuesday.
The event, hosted by NSW Premier Chris Minns, was held at Parramatta, with invited food producers helping to cook up their best barbie food for the royal occasion.
“The Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) gave us a call about two weeks ago and said that they had a very special guest coming, but they couldn't quite say who, because it hadn't officially been announced. But, you know, sort of hinted that it was perhaps someone royal," Hannah said.
Tim said: “It was one of those phone calls where you get off it and you just want to call everyone, but we had to keep it under our hat for weeks."
The first generation beef and chicken farmers from the NSW Central Coast were stoked to be selected as one of the producers to attend the event, an honour bestowed to them as they were finalists in the RAS President's medal last year for their chicken meat.
On Tuesday afternoon they reflected it had been a big few days, but it wasn't an opportunity they were going to miss.
“Last night, we were still at the paddock at about midnight, finishing off all the chores, and then up at 4am this morning to start prepping food. So it’s definitely been a bit of a blur, but you know, that's what you do. When you get the call from the Premier's office, you can't really say no," Hannah said.
It was worth the wait with the self-described "luckiest farmers" meeting both the King and Queen.
“We weren't meant to meet them both, but King Charles sort of had to walk past us, and we caught his eye,” Tim said. “They were meant to split and do half each. But King Charles came in and spoke to us, and then we got Queen Camilla. So, we're the luckiest chicken farmers."
Hannah and Tim Eyes, who farm on the Central Coast, NSW. Pic: Supplied
The royals were genuinely interested in the couple’s farming methods.
“King Charles, he asked a little bit about our practices, about sustainability, and he talked about the no-till method that he uses on his farms," Hannah said.
"He also asked about weeds in the paddock and if we struggle with those. And I mentioned back to him that weeds are the best soil test that you can get. And he had a little twinkle in his eye; he winked back straight at me.”
It was also an opportunity for the Aussie regenerative farmers to chat to their "landlords".
“We predominantly farm on Crown lands, so, we let them know that and Queen Camilla said that she would like to visit, whether she does or not is another story. But yeah, she said that, which is pretty cool," Hannah said.
King Charles' long history of sustainable farming is well documented and the Eyes' did some research before the visit.
They were impressed to learn he was a maverick within organic farming back in the 1980s, that he liked to talk to his plants and was vocal about the misuse of antibiotics in farming amongst other things.
“He has obviously had that passion for farming for a long time," Hannah said.
Reflecting on the meeting, Tim added, “It was just like meeting a member of your family and caring for them immensely. It was such a big day, and they seemed somewhat exhausted, but still gave their absolute best to us.”
One thing's for certain, when you're a farmer, it doesn't matter if you're the King or what continent you visit, you're drawn to other farmers and talk of ... farming!
The other is that as soon as your attention is elsewhere, your livestock plays ups. As soon as the festivities concluded Hannah and Tim were heading straight home to round up some escaped cattle.
It's not hard to imagine that King Charles and Queen Camilla would have preferred to be going home with them to help out and talk more about farming than continue with the obligations of the royal tour.
