Bare Essentials is now in its fourth generation of vegetable farming in Australia. The Dipple family originated from the farming districts of Bromsgrove in England where there are family records dating back to the 1600’s detailing their farming lives.
In 1913, George Henry Dipple, Mary Ann Dipple and their children arrived in Australia to start a new farming life firstly in The Gap and then moving onto a pineapple farm in Mitchelton, Brisbane.
The pineapples soon disappeared and the family grew many leafy greens and bunching vegetables, and was one of the original lettuce growers in Brisbane, known as ‘the market garden in Mitchy’.
The first farming business GH Dipple supplied produce to the old Brisbane Markets located at Roma Street, Brisbane – where the train station and travel centre are now. Later on, sales moved to the Rocklea Markets, which is still trading today.
Circa 1920 - Mitchelton property, Brisbane
As the generations changed, the business names changed including WR Dipple & Sons, Dipple Family Investments Pty Ltd, Robert Dipple Investments, 2DT Farmers, Wildcard Produce Pty Ltd, Dipple Farms Pty Ltd and Sunny Daze Pty Ltd.
In January 1999, the Mitchelton property was sold seeing the end of an era, where housing estates now cover the old farming property.
Brendan and Janne Dipple moved to Morton Vale (just outside Gatton) in the Lockyer Valley to an old 28-hectare lucerne farm and started the current farming company ‘Sunny Daze Pty Ltd trading as Bare Essentials’.
The property has an interesting history. In the late 1800s, the area was known as Lower Lake Clarendon Estate and was part of a larger cattle property that stretched all the way to Lowood. On 25 November 1899, the ‘Estate’ was made ready for purchase through the Queensland Government granting land at the Gatton Courthouse through a raffle process using ballot boxes.
On 1 August 1924, the farmhouse officially became the Morton Vale Post Office and on 9 November 1923 the Morton Vale Local Producers’ Association successfully established a telephone exchange in the farmhouse, offering postage stamps, mail service, public telegraph and trunk line services. The Morton Vale Post Office closed on 31 March 1940.
The old newspapers back in the day tell many stories of weddings, parties and social events taking place in the old farmhouse.
By the time Brendan and Janne purchased the property, it was showing signs of a hard farming life over the generations, but had the inherent charm of a friendly ‘old Queensland farm’. It has taken many years to restore the house and grounds, which remains a continuing project.
Today the house once again is home to vibrant family life and hosts the occasional social event with a vision of opening its doors to tourists and students in the future.
What’s in a name? Morton Vale
The Morton Vale name originated from the good deeds of neighbouring early settlers named George and Mary Morton who arrived around 1898.
George was a school teacher back in Bundaberg and felt strongly about the need for a local school. He donated two acres of his farm (opposite Bare Essentials) to the State Government to build a schoolhouse named Morton Vale School in his honour. Over time the residents chose to rename their addresses to ‘Morton Vale’. Today’s Bare Essentials farming property partially spans this Morton Vale area.
9 Mortonvale School Road
MORTONVALE 4343 QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA