Growing happiness
The Australian Women's Weekly|July 2024
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
SUSAN CHENERY
Growing happiness

The sea of yellow stretches as far as the eye can see. Sunflowers swaying on their tall stems. Row after row across the rolling landscape. The colour of optimism, warmth and sunshine in a flower.

“They just make you happy,” says Jenny Jenner, running her hands over the petals of one. Behind her, Queensland’s Scenic Rim seems to vibrate with fertility – alive, growing, ready for the harvest.

But four years ago this was a scene of despair. The land was brown, bare dirt: Dead. It was the seventh year of drought. Times were hard, with no end in sight. “The Moogerah Dam was down to 12 per cent and our allocation was being cut off. We couldn’t irrigate – you can’t grow anything without water,” Jenny says.

It seemed – after 16 years on this farm growing lucerne – like the end of days. The district was depressed. When farming comes to a halt it affects everybody. There was no money to spend on businesses in town. People were worn down.

“You forget what years of drought does to people and the stress it puts you under,” Jenny recalls.

Jenny was desperately trying to think outside the box. She and her husband, Russell, had lost their main source of income. The farm had to diversify. Jenny wondered what they could do.

It was then, in the depths of drought, that Russell made a spontaneous romantic gesture. He bought Jenny three sunflowers from the supermarket.

They looked so pretty on the kitchen bench, and Jenny noticed they lasted a long time in a vase. She had heard, on the news, of people doing dangerous things in other places to get selfies in fields of golden, yellow canola crops. They trespassed, cut barbed wire fences and brought biosecurity risks with them.

This story is from the July 2024 edition of The Australian Women's Weekly.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the July 2024 edition of The Australian Women's Weekly.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLYView All
Maggie's kitchen
The Australian Women's Weekly

Maggie's kitchen

Maggie Beer's delicious veg patties - perfect for lunch, dinner or a snack - plus a simple nostalgic pudding with fresh passionfruit.

time-read
1 min  |
January 2025
Reclaim your brain
The Australian Women's Weekly

Reclaim your brain

Attention span short? Thoughts foggy? Memory full of gaps? Brigid Moss investigates the latest ways to sharpen your thinking.

time-read
5 mins  |
January 2025
The girls from Oz
The Australian Women's Weekly

The girls from Oz

Melbourne music teacher Judith Curphey challenged the patriarchy when she started Australia's first all-girls choir. Forty years later that bold vision has 6500 members, life-changing programs and a new branch of the sisterhood in Singapore.

time-read
9 mins  |
January 2025
One kid can change the world
The Australian Women's Weekly

One kid can change the world

In 2018, 10-year-old Jack Berne started A Fiver for a Farmer to raise funds for drought relief. He and mum Prue share what happened next.

time-read
5 mins  |
January 2025
AFTER THE WAVE
The Australian Women's Weekly

AFTER THE WAVE

Twenty years ago, the Boxing Day tsunami tore across the Indian Ocean, shredding towns, villages and holiday resorts, and killing hundreds of thousands of people from Indonesia to Africa. Three Australians share their memories of terror, loss and survival with The Weekly.

time-read
8 mins  |
January 2025
PATRICIA KARVELAS How childhood tragedy shaped me
The Australian Women's Weekly

PATRICIA KARVELAS How childhood tragedy shaped me

Patricia Karvelas hustled hard to chase her dreams, but it wasn't easy. In a deeply personal interview, the ABC host talks about family loss, finding love, battles fought and motherhood.

time-read
10 mins  |
January 2025
Ripe for the picking
The Australian Women's Weekly

Ripe for the picking

Buy a kilo or two of fresh Australian apricots because they're at their peak sweetness now and take inspiration from our lush recipe ideas that showcase this divine stone fruit.

time-read
5 mins  |
January 2025
Your stars for 2025
The Australian Women's Weekly

Your stars for 2025

The Weekly’s astrologer, Lilith Rocha, reveals what’s in store for your astrological sign in 2025. For your monthly horoscope, turn to page 192.

time-read
10 mins  |
January 2025
MEL SCHILLING Cancer made me look at myself differently'
The Australian Women's Weekly

MEL SCHILLING Cancer made me look at myself differently'

One year on from going public with her bowel cancer diagnosis, Mel Schilling reveals where she's at with her health journey and how it's changed her irrevocably.

time-read
9 mins  |
January 2025
Nothing like this Dame Judi
The Australian Women's Weekly

Nothing like this Dame Judi

A few weeks before her 90th birthday, the acting legend jumped on a phone call with The Weekly to talk about her extraordinary life – and what’s still to come.

time-read
10 mins  |
January 2025