Phew AGFEST 2018 is finished what a marathon !!!! Its been a month since we were at AGFEST and was my second year being an exhibitor with Kosie Country Made products and it was awesome! The people, the conversations, the reunions and laughter all make the pre-agfest hectic work load all worth every inch of sleep I didn’t get!

It becomes a little like juggling balls during the month before AGFEST with all I have going on in my life with our family and commitments to ballet, swimming and motocross as well as working in our takeaway/café trying to keep everything balanced and running like a well oiled engine.  I would get up really early and get to bed really late making lists that were getting longer each day and certainly not shorter!  I guess that’s why they call it passion! I most definitely have so much passion for what I do we are so lucky to have Agfest to showcase it all.

The days before the big event my teeny tiny loungeroom becomes a mini factory with organised boxes and tables ready to finish label and pack ready for transport!  The kids are asked to play in any other area of our home and to watch their TV or movies shows in our bedroom as the family lounge room at this time of year does not exist (boy I can’t wait for our new shed to be built) must not be entered or else mum might loose it just a tad…… and by that I mean moving things around could truth is they handle this really well and more often want to help so mummy has more time! Love my little helpers they are certainly the cutest around! Tea is slow cooker meals and a few takeaways just to get us through!

 

So all has been cooked and all has been packaged and packed and its now time to head off to ‘Quercus Park’ Carrick to set up for the main event!  Thanks hubby for all your muscles they were very much needed !

‘Quercus Park’ Carrick the home of Agfest we arrive and drive through to our site in Craft shed C and are at site C09. The sites and set ups look great and is a credit to the Rural Youth Team that volunteer so many hours through the year to ensure this event is run so very well!  We have until 2.30pm to set up and be home to pick up the kids from school! Time is on and every exhibitor is busy unloading and creating their little pop up shops to call home for the next 3 days. Set up took a few hours then tweeking to get it looking right and confident in our presentation of our products.

 

Day 1 Thursday is always what all exhibitors generally call the ‘browsing day’ I really love this first day as it is relaxed and I love a good chat as anyone who knows me! I especially love talking about FOOD and how I source our ingredients create our recipes of our range! To me its never been about the volume of product but the quality and attention to detail in the small batches that really ensures the flavour and taste of our products are authentic.  Our day started very slow and our idea of our banner (which looked so amazing) was great however made our stall so very dark and not very inviting so we made a few changes to what we originally set up.  I had the best gift of spending this first day with my beautiful Mum as she came to help and it meant so much as this is who gave me my start and passion in what I do!

Day 2 was so very cold it rained over night and a little dusting of snow up the mountains made the wind coming off the mountains very cold.  HOT CHOCOLATE l!!!!!! was the must and I don’t think we took off our jackets all day.  I had so much fun discussing our flavours today and talked a lot about our Christmas Puddings and how much I love making every single one.

 

DAY 3 Final – The best day of the three and I was totally exhausted by the finish line.  So grateful today that my sister in law Tanya and my niece Lauren firstly bought me some yummy dessert for breakfast total score here !!! and they then stayed to help thank goodness as all the craft sheds where packed with so many people wandering through there was very few spaces and the crowds did not stop until the end of the day.  No time for any breaks today I was so very hungry by the end and we had heard from people coming into Agfest that their carparks were overflowing and the lines at the gate will still huge at 3pm with only a few hours to go.  I am very thankful for all they came to sample and purchase and encourage today it certainly kept me focussed and going.

 

It’s all over now for another year I am so ready for next year and taking on board everyone’s suggestions to make next year even more successful bring on the next AGFEST 2019 I definitely want to be there again and I won’t be forgetting my boots and nor should you!!!! You just gotta wear your boots its AGFEST!!!

A well deserved cup of tea and snuggles with my family is what I received when I arrived home so much love xxxx

With love and kindness through food Kim x

PS If you missed out on this years Agfest and the opportunity to top your pantry head over to www.kosie.com.au and we can get this sorted ASAP!!! 🙂