{"id":2514,"date":"2019-07-24T18:44:20","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T08:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boomaroo.com\/?p=2514"},"modified":"2019-08-22T21:02:59","modified_gmt":"2019-08-22T11:02:59","slug":"carmel-ingram-steps-into-the-spotlight-for-women-in-horticulture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/carmel-ingram-steps-into-the-spotlight-for-women-in-horticulture\/","title":{"rendered":"Carmel Ingram steps into the spotlight for Women in Horticulture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carmel Ingram, the winner of this year\u2019s <\/span>Boomaroo Nurseries\u2019 Women in Horticulture Award<\/span><\/i>, almost didn\u2019t make it to the stage. \u201cI didn\u2019t get up straight away. I didn\u2019t hear my name!\u201d It wasn\u2019t until her husband, Keith, told her she\u2019d won that she made her way to the stage to accept her accolade. \u201cI was very nearly bursting into tears walking up there, and to be amongst a group of such dedicated women\u201d she said.<\/span><\/h2>\n

The award, recognising outstanding ability and success in their chosen field, shines a spotlight on the significant contribution made by women to our industry. The growing prominence of such recognition made this year\u2019s announcement of the <\/span>Boomaroo Nurseries Women in Horticulture Award<\/span><\/i> one of the highlights of the Hort Connections 2019 <\/span>One Harvest Gala Dinner<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

This year had 13 strong finalists in contention which was more than any other award category. Candidates presented leadership in an array of industry fields including growing, research and development, and farm management, with <\/span>Carmel, a vegetable grower from <\/span>Ingram Bonaccord<\/span><\/i> in Gippsland Victoria, taking out the top prize.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Carmel, the award is not something she sought out, but she is hugely grateful for the recognition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find it hard to talk about myself, so to find out I was nominated… I was in shock,\u201d said Carmel. \u201cI\u2019ve now learnt to go with the flow and embrace and enjoy [the win]. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, which is something I do with my employees, so for that to happen to me, I\u2019m really stoked.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Carmel and her husband Keith manage the pack house of the Ingram family farm, which is shared between Keith and his three other brothers and their families. The business moved from a dairy farm into vegetable production almost 45 years ago and is now one of the largest vegetable growing operations in the state.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Carmel married into the business in 1980 and, along with raising the couple\u2019s three children, helped the brothers and their families build the business to what it is today. With no previous experience or formal education in vegetable production, Carmel had to learn as she went along.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Pack House Manager, Carmel is responsible for managing all areas of grading, assessment, cutting, washing and packing of produce. She oversees a team that is up to 140 strong in peak season. One of her key tasks is coordinating the roster, and it was here, 25 year ago, Carmel recognised the need to provide flexible working hours to those employees that also had to juggle the school pick up and drop off.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that Carmel has been inspired by strong, hard-working women her whole life – especially her own mother. Carmel\u2019s father died when her mother was just 43 years old, with six young children to raise. \u201cShe knew what it was like to work hard. She taught us all about hard work and all six of us have taken it on board. It\u2019s in my character,\u201d says Carmel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Carmel found her match in Keith and the whole Ingram family; \u201canother family that works hard,\u201d she says. \u201cTo be in the farming industry, that\u2019s all you know. You\u2019ve got to get up at all hours of the morning and do what you have to for the day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This sense of family is important to Carmel. With four couples involved in running the business, their cooperation and unity is one of Carmel\u2019s proudest achievements. \u201cYou work together, you live within five minutes of each other and we get asked a lot \u2018How do you function together?\u2019 We just do. We\u2019ve never had an argument. It\u2019s an accomplishment in itself.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She\u2019s also excited to see the next generation of family members return to the family business. <\/span>Carmel and her husband have encouraged their three children to pursue their own interests in study and careers outside of the farm, \u201cit\u2019s so important that they go away, do their own thing, work for another employer,\u201d she says. But they are thrilled when the next generation shows an interest in returning<\/span>. One of Carmel\u2019s two daughters has recently returned to the family farm, working in quality control, and her son is looking to join the business as well. \u201cThe farm is instilled in them and it\u2019s a proud moment when they want to come back,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carmel would like to see more support for women in horticulture, with flexible working hours for mothers and promoting careers for women in the horticulture industry as a worthwhile path. She sees mentorship and support amongst women in the industry through initiatives like Women in Horticulture, as a way to continue to see women progress through the industry. <\/span>For Carmel, this extends to her day-to-day, whether it\u2019s passing on her instilled values and work ethic to the pack house team, to supporting primary and secondary college students to gain exposure to life on her farm.<\/span>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

And her advice to other women in horticulture? \u201cLove and enjoy what you\u2019re doing,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the second year <\/span>Boomaroo Nurseries <\/span><\/i>has proudly sponsored the award, <\/span>recognising the key role that passionate and dedicated women play in ensuring horticulture continues to be a strong contributor to the Australia\u2019s agricultural sector.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carmel Ingram, the winner of this year\u2019s Boomaroo Nurseries\u2019 Women in Horticulture Award, almost didn\u2019t make it to the stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2514"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2518,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514\/revisions\/2518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}