Halfway across Australia, Kimba sits above Goyder's Line and life here in this often-dry little Eyre Peninsula town hasn’t always been easy. But a dinner in a giant shed on the main street highlights the strong heartbeat of this special place.

Words Zoe Rice | Photographs Ben Kelly

A former John Deere workshop on Kimba’s Main Street has been abuzz with activity all day.

The building is no longer splashed with the famous Deere green and yellow, instead it has been given a modern, sleek black facade and today it is adorned with colourful hand-sewn bunting. A cheery coffee cart sits out the front in welcome.

Through the industrial doors, the once-disused, cavernous workshop has been transformed: the mechanical oil shovelled from its floors, decades of grime scrubbed from its walls, the old mechanics pits filled in and covered over.

Now, this space has emerged, ready for its next life.

It’s not the most likely of places for a shopping precinct, but placed throughout the building are shipping containers and within each one is a business run by a local woman.

From soaps to antiques, vintage clothing to flowers, food and candles, this little Kimba gem – named Workshop 26 – has breathed new life into the town’s main street and is the setting for tonight’s dinner party, hosted by the women who run the successful businesses in the space.

Spread out on a long table tonight are examples of the industrious ways they are creating not only a line of income for themselves, but an attraction in their little town.

For example, the table is set with eclectic crockery sourced from High Street Vintage, (and while business owner Heather Baldock couldn’t make tonight’s festivities, she is still making a special touch on the setting).

Next are the botanical creations by Chloe Rayson from Blossoms EP, which stretch from one side of the table to the other, with a moody mix of crimsons and reds bursting out of the greenery – spider orchids and carnations mixed with dahlias and spray roses. Chrysanthemum and freesias, with sedum and more spider orchid.

Then there are the jet-black candles created by Karawatha Home’s Barb Woolford that cast a gentle light over Chloe’s blooms.

Barb says she never had any intention of starting her own candle business, but when the women started Workshop 26, she called upon skills that had previously only been used to make gifts from a well-worn saucepan in her own kitchen.

“Now, I make thousands of candles a year,” Barb says. “It’s been really good for the town.”

Although not an official Workshop 26 inhabitant, tonight’s caterer Anna Cant from Hillview Paddock can regularly be found outside the workshop, selling her quick and delicious lunches.

Tonight, she’s prepared a three-course country meal with an abundance of seasonal produce.

For entree, there are Thai-style satay chicken skewers, crispy Spencer Gulf squid caught by a friend and an Asian salad, inspired by Anna’s time spent in Thailand.

For main, the Hillview Paddock lamb shoulder has been stuffed with herbs from Anna’s home garden, simple and delicious in its pan juices, and butterflied roast chicken.

On the side, Anna’s made Mediterranean-style barley salad, roasted pumpkin with yoghurt dressing, herbed butter potatoes and green salad with vinaigrette.

To finish, it’s either a lime meringue tart with fruit from Anna’s mother-in-law’s tree, or classic crème brulee.

Accompanying each course, there’s a matched wine from Boston Bay Wines, with tonight’s bottles displaying the winery’s freshly revealed new labels. As the women sit down for dinner, Carmen Rayner from The Small Town Soap Co relays the story of how Workshop 26 came to be. Her introduction to the whole idea came in the form of a text message from Barb.

“It was March 4, 2019 and Barb texted me some photos of a cool collective arts precinct in Mooloolaba called M Precinct, saying we should do something similar and excellent,” Carmen says.

“I texted back ‘Yes, when do we start?’ and then it was radio silence. I kept texting her throughout the day.”

Barb had sent that same message to a small group of women in Kimba, turned her phone off and boarded a flight, unwittingly setting in motion a series of events that has led to everyone sitting here tonight.

Carmen’s shipping container sits at the rear of the workshop, spilling out to a manufacturing area. Her shelves are stacked with the fruits of her passion. “The day that I made my first batch of soap, it changed my life,” she says. “I found it so scientific and so creative.”

Lined up, there are soaps in every colour, and throughout the warehouse the scent entwines itself with Barb’s candles and drifts out onto the main street, enticing passers-by.

One soap proudly boasts an award win – Carmen’s Clean Soap Bar took home the gold medal at the Clean + Conscious Awards 2023.

In a bowl, tiny soaps all sit together. Carmen explains that there are offcuts of edge pieces when she makes 100 bars at a time, so she transforms them into travel soaps, wasting nothing.

What began on Carmen’s kitchen table is now a thriving business, employing another local woman and producing up to 600 bars a week, some of which are wholesaled across Australia with the soap now stocked in IGA supermarkets, while others go into boutique accommodation and hotels.

Across the way from Carmen’s shipping container is Ellen Zibell’s business Alive and Well, which is a beautiful curation of all the health products she and her family love.

It’s a popular spot for travellers to stop in and stock up on healthy snacks – and the rest of the Workshop 26 women can often be found there too.

Right at the back of the warehouse, Lisa Lock’s The Good Copy Company is sleek and uncluttered – a single desk in the middle of the space. Lisa lives a short stroll from Workshop 26, but this is her place of calm away from the demands of home to run her copywriting business.

At home, Danna Kassebaum has a botanical oasis in the middle of the bush, which has inspired her shop, Zozo & Ace. In her shipping container, you’ll find beautiful garden accessories and cleverly curated outdoor items.

Erin Beinke’s Noble Frank is not only her jewellery retail space, it’s also the jeweller’s workshop, where visitors can watch her in action. The Workshop 26 women have created their own industries, away from their farms and the stations that most of their husbands’ days are spent on.

The shed has also breathed new life into the town and is providing a reason for tourists and interested Eyre Peninsula residents to pop into Kimba.

The tourist inflow means that on any given day, a couple of the women will act as the retail assistants for all of the Workshop 26 businesses. Their lives outside of Workshop 26 include helping on the farm and, for some, taking care of their children, with no formal childcare options within Kimba.

They simply wouldn’t be able to dedicate the necessary hours to running shopfronts; it takes a village and this little village makes it all possible.

It’s rare that they all get a moment like this to sit, relax and reflect on what they’re achieving.

Carmen recalls the day she handed over the cheque to purchase the property. She sat out the front where Megan Dickenson’s Little Coffee Pot caravan is now and treated herself to Champagne.

Even then, she knew it would be good. Great, even. But everything that’s happened since is still incredible to everyone.

“I don’t think we ever thought we would fill the entire shed in just a few years,” Carmen says.

“In my mind, to find such a high concentration of fabulousness in such a small town in the middle of nowhere is really quite surprising.”

As tends to be the case with country hospitality, there are still piles of food on the table and the leftovers are going to any of the women who make it in tomorrow to help clean up.

And judging by the praise for each dish, many hands are going to make light work.

 

 

Thai-style satay chicken

1kg chicken (whole butterflied chicken works best, or thigh)

marinade
200ml coconut milk
½ cup peanut butter
1 tbsp red curry paste
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp turmeric
to serve (optional)

Coriander
Crushed peanuts
Diced chilli

Whisk coconut milk and peanut butter together until it is a smooth paste. Add remainder of marinade ingredients and stir until incorporated. Add chicken to the mixture and once covered well, let it marinate for at least an hour, or, even, up to 24 hours.

Grill chicken on both sides until cooked through. For best flavour cook on a grill or a hot plate then serve with coriander, peanuts and chilli.

 

 

Roast pumpkin with yoghurt dressing

for roasted pumpkin
1 kg pumpkin, cut into wedges
1 tbsp of cumin
1 tsp of mixed herbs and coriander powder
2 large pinches salt

for dressing
¾ cup natural yoghurt
1 tsp honey
¾ tsp cumin

Place pumpkin into a bowl with 3 tablespoons olive oil and mix until full coated. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon cumin, mixed herbs, coriander powder and salt and coat pumpkin. Roast for 25 minutes at 200C or until just tender.

For dressing, mix together natural yoghurt, honey and cumin and drizzle over warm pumpkin right before serving and sprinkle with parsley.

 

 

This article first appeared in the June 2024 issue of SALIFE magazine.