Darling Downs business Budgee Garlic and Herbs's newest plans

Mr and Mrs Kambouris' farm is a two-hectare block that used to be home to the Budgee State School before it closed in the 1960s. 

In addition to selling fresh garlic and herbs, they also create garlic, herb and spice blends, relishes and sauces. 

Last year they planted 55,000 cloves of garlic, but lost nearly half of the crop during the drought. 

In a year with full harvest they can produce about two tonnes of garlic, which they say is "pretty finicky", liking moisture, but not too much of it, and lots of organic matter.

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"Traditionally you plant garlic in autumn and harvest it in spring, depending on when we get the rain and the heat and everything else," Mr Kambouris said. 

Garlic struggles with weeds, meaning Mr and Mrs Kambouris have had to weed by hand to ensure it is able to grow to its full potential. 

"If you give it the right conditions it will just grow beautifully and do its own thing, but you've got to know what conditions it likes," Mrs Kambouris said. 

Mrs Kambouris said they were trialling growing capers and hoped to be selling them next year. 

"We've just taken the first little harvest, which wasn't much, off our caper bushes," she said. 

"Next year we should get a lot more and we've been playing with salting and pickling capers. 

"We've done a little bit of research on the capers and we only know of one other commercial caper grower in Queensland and they're up Kingaroy way. 

"The little capers like it hot and dry, so they're opposite to garlic. We're putting them in around rockery areas where they can get the heat and the protection they need." 

The couple are also planning on getting a greenhouse so they can produce their herbs year-round. and have gone into a partnership with the Clifton State High School, sourcing 200kg  a year of garlic grown by their students.

"They didn't have a market for it, some local people were buying it but they had more than they knew what to do with," Mrs Kambouris said. 

"They contacted us and asked if we would consider coming out and having a look and maybe purchasing some of their garlic. 

"We're really excited about working with young people who were just growing with it as part of their class and now they can take it the whole way from planting to seeing how it's being used."

AS local produce becomes more and more popular with restaurants across the world, Rod and Joan Kambouris are hoping a soon-to-be Darling Downs guide will help get their produce on menus in the region. 

The couple behind Budgee Garlic and Herbs are among the first operators to put their hands up to be part of a guide being put out by the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce as part of their Food and Agri Network inititiative. 

Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer, Jo Sheppard, said the booklet would help connect producers with local eateries. 

"In talking to a lot of the local restaurants, cafes and food suppliers we found they're interested in featuring local produce but often don't have the knowledge of what's produced locally, what's in season and who you can contact to place orders," she said. 

"Visitors to the region want the opportunity to try local produce grown on the Darling Downs."

Mrs Kambouris said they have mainly been selling at farmers' markets as well as doing some wholesale, but were really keen to supply directly to restaurants as well. 

"We'd love to supply locally as much as we can," she said. 

"The food mile issue is always going to be a big one.. we believe we can supply at least a portion of what people need."

Any producers interested in being involved can contact Jo Sheppard at the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce on (07) 4638 0400.