His head is a stuffed pillowcase stuffed, his mouth is painted on and he’s wearing second hand clothes.

This may sound like a few people you know, but it’s actually Carol Boomsma’s scarecrow.

Carol is a stall holder at Lismore Organic Market and she’s made her scarecrow for a competition to celebrate the organic market’s 20th birthday next Tuesday, October 1 at Lismore Showgrounds, from 7.30am until 12pm.

Carol made her scarecrow to promote the event and inspire others to get involved in the competition and come along to the Northern Rivers’ only certified organic growers market for the celebrations.

“It’s the longest running organic market in Australia and Lismore’s best kept secret,” Carol said. 

“The market is all about sustainable agriculture, low food miles and real relationships between growers and customers.”

On the day, you can bring along your own scarecrow you’ve made yourself and enter the competition for $5 per entry – and there’s prizes to be won.

Carol said the scarecrow making competition was a bit of fun to encourage people to get creative with ways they can put together recycled materials to keep birds,

pests and bugs away.

“Scarecrows are big, cute and fun and give people a chance to upcycle things they have around the house when they make one.

“They really go with organic farming where we use different methods to help grow vegetables. 

“They don’t all have to be traditional scarecrows – they can be as simple as shirts and clothes flapping. 

“Anything goes. We’ll be looking at all things – creativity, uniqueness, cute factor and great use of recycled materials. Don’t buy new things to make it.

“Some people make scarecrows out of plastic tubs and tins joined together to rattle around in the wind and scare crows away from picking at your crops.

“When I started to make my scarecrow, I looked on the internet for ideas and was amazed at how many different scarecrows there were out there.

“I made mine out of a bamboo frame tied together. Then I spent an afternoon weeding and pulled out blady grass and let that die off in the sun and I brushed it with that.”

Carol said she’s been a stall holder at the organic market for 16 years and sells sunflower and salad greens.

“I grow them in greenhouses in Coffee Camp and have been certified organic for 18 years.

 “It’s a great business to be in and I enjoy the markets – it’s such a wonderful community event every Tuesday, with seasonal, fresh locally grown organic produce.”

Carol said to celebrate the 20th birthday of the market, local makers and growers are invited to have a one-off stall for the day, alongside the regular growers.

There will be organic flowers, a native bee display and kits to build a hive, mushroom display and growing information, handcrafted jewellery, ceramics, organic chocolate, pecans, garden beds, plants and permaculture information.

“With beautiful food prepared from our growers produce, organic coffee, live music, the scarecrow competition, a children’s art exhibition and demonstrations, it’s a family friendly celebration and everyone is welcome,” Carol said.

Scarecrow competition details: 

All scarecrows must be handmade from scratch

Scarecrows can be made from any materials, but all materials must be up cycled, recycled or second hand. No new materials used and recycling is encouraged.

Scarecrows must be delivered to the Lismore Organic Market before 9.30am to be eligible for display and judging.

Scarecrows must not exceed 1.5m tall and be no smaller than 50cm.

Name and contact number of the maker must be securely attached to the back of the scarecrow.

Scarecrows can be picked up after the event. 

Lismore Organic market will take great care with your creations but cannot be held responsible for any scarecrows not picked up after the event. They will be left onsite.

For more information about the scarecrow making competition, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/2369468733379785/

For more information about Lismore Organic Market, visit https://www.facebook.com/LismoreOrganicMarket/