Australia's rosella jam cooking queen Cecilia "CC" Diaz-Petersen cut the red ribbon and jumped with excitement on the weekend as she left years of working in a cramped kitchen behind her.
Her farm's new building will allow her family agritourism business to expand, providing employment to locals in the tiny town of Woolooga, north-west of Gympie in Queensland.
The cornerstone of the Petersen operation is rosellas — not the bird, but the flower — an old-fashioned favourite gaining a new following.
"All of a sudden, this dream of Greg and mine is here. I cooked in the new kitchen the other day and I was just dancing," Ms Diaz-Petersen said.
CC's Kitchen and Petersen's Farm's small crop business have survived flood, drought, fire, a hailstorm and the pandemic.
Through these natural disasters it took the couple six years to save to build the new premises.
"That shows that we really wanted this, and it really inspired us to get to here," Ms Diaz-Petersen said.
Delayed by months of wet weather, the new building — which includes a huge commercial kitchen, six times the size the original — was tested at the seventh annual Rosella festival.
Inspired by the wide range of crops she and her husband Greg farms, Ms Diaz makes 105 different jams, chutneys, pickles and sauces.
"We grow niche stuff. A lot of Asian food, probably 20—30 different crops to be able to feed all of the different people from around the world," Mr Petersen said.
The couple has built the business on the property that Mr Petersen's parents Joe and Pat bought in 1980.
They have transformed into what is believed to be Australia's largest rosella farm.
Farming dream realised
Now the couple have room to streamline operations, with a fridge, freezer, pantry and storage space as well as a shaded verandah and toilet for events and busloads of guests who enjoy food and field walks.
The Petersens form part of the international slow food movement and have been an inspiration to small-scale farmers including Jennifer Nini, who has been hard hit by three floods since she began growing and selling flowers commercially last year.
"CC and Petersen's Farm were really helpful when we needed sunflowers and I couldn't grow what I wanted to grow because we kept losing crops," Ms Nini said.
The couple are keen to raise the profile of rosellas and plan to host school groups in the future.
"If we are to make our mark in this world the best way is to teach children how to farm and how to cook their food. That will be our legacy because Greg and I don't have children, and this is the way we would like to give to the world."
