HEALTH CHECKS
Did you hear the one about the Gold Coaster whose ears are ringing? If you didn’t, chances are you need your hearing checked.
The Australian Hearing bus is stopping by the Gold Coast to offer free hearing checks and raise hearing health awareness. Simon Cook, the manager at Australian Hearing Gold Coast, said because age-related hearing loss developed gradually over time, it was common for people to be unaware that their hearing was diminishing. About 60 per cent of Australians over 60 experience hearing loss. “A hearing check is a quick and easy way to measure the sounds you can and can’t hear. Our team will also be on hand to guide you through what steps you may have to take in regards to your hearing,” Mr Cook said. No appointment is necessary. Australian Hearing will provide hearing checks to any interested adults over 18 who visit the bus.
The bus will stop at the Runaway Bay Sports Super Centre from 7am-1pm on Monday, December 11; Broadbeach library on Tuesday, December 12, 9am-1pm; River Gardens Caravan Park at Carrara on Wednesday, December 13, 9am-1pm; and Southport Library on Thursday, December 14, 9am-1pm. Australian Hearing provides subsidised hearing care for eligible people, including pensioners and most veterans. For more call 131 797 or visit www.hearing.com.au GOLD COAST ORGANIC GROWERS
MARIA Roberson was flicking through a magazine on organic farming when an idea took root.
It was 1997, a time when home internet still wasn’t really a thing and neither were hipsters, and not many people knew what the term organic meant.
Ms Roberson and her husband Paul had just moved back to the Currumbin Valley property of her childhood where her parents previously operated a banana farm.
The pair dreamed of transforming it into an organic space and so Ms Roberson decided to place an ad in the paper looking for like-minded Gold Coasters.
“Organic was seen as a bit weird and kooky and only for the hippies,” Ms Roberson said.
“We had people come to meetings who had never grown a thing in their lives to old farmers who retired on the Gold Coast and after spending their whole life using chemicals wanted to try growing their own food without them.
“We were a group of people who had become aware of what we wanted to eat and to have the satisfaction of growing it ourselves.”
As the club grew from its initial 10 members up to the 130 it boasts today so too did the Roberson’s garden.
With four growing boys to feed, having a flourishing organic garden wasn’t just satisfying for the soul but for their tummies, too.
“We’d sit down to dinner and joke with the kids, ‘Right, time for our meat and seven vege’,” Ms Roberson said. “Ev- eyone had helped to grow what we were about to eat for dinner and they’d all be so proud.”
Today, members travel from as far as Nimbin and Beaudesert to attend the monthly meetings, held at 7pm on the third Thursday of every month (except December) on the corner of Guineas Creek Rd and Coolgardie St, Elanora.
The club buys organic seeds in bulk, members swap vegetables and others sell excess organic honey.
For people wanting to buy organic produce, Ms Roberson said you need to either check it has been certified by a professional organic body or personally get to know the grower at either the markets or farm gate.
The club isn’t just for those living on acreage either. Members living in highrises have been known to attend meetings.
“Everyone can grow organic if they want to, even if it’s just some basil, chives and parsley on your balcony,” Ms Roberson said.
For more information about the club visit goldcoastorganicgrowers.org.au