The return of Greenethorpe's other golden crop has seen visitors flocking to the outskirts of the village.

The Hodges family have again grown a paddock of sunflowers for passersby to pick and pose.

The family affair, which was the idea of Warwick Hodges as a way to brighten spirits during the recent drought, saw son Joseph sowing the sunflowers while daughter Kate created a hay bale sign adorned with the words "Pick Me" next to the paddock to encourage people to stop.

Kristie Hodges said the paddock was done mainly as a bit of fun for the family.

"We love sunflowers and we love cycling, so it's a bit like the Tour de France," she said.

"The boys go cycling up past the sunflowers, so we cut the fence last year and Kate made the bale and it took off.

"It was just something we really liked doing, we don't want to make a fuss about it, it just caught on."

She said this year the family had seen an explosion in visitors to the paddock.

"I think last year the timing of the flowers was why it really took off, people were coming out of COVID lockdowns and getting out and about," she said.

"Post COVID people are wanting to get our more on bike rides or trips to the country, so maybe they value the simple joys a bit more.

"It's certainly brought a lot of people to Greenthorpe, we've had hundreds of people come through each day over Easter.

So now we've put a green bike on the bail to show support for the Grenfell to Greenethorpe rail trail."

Mrs Hodges said while the family enjoyed the messages of thanks, the paddock wasn't something they had gone out of their way to do.

"We just stuck them in because we liked them and it's just nice other people like them too," she said.

"We don't want to lock it in every year but if it rains at the right time they will go in.

"They don't really grow here particularly well, that's why it was in May last year they flowered and this year it just happened to be Easter."

She said there was still a possibility that visitors could enjoy the flowers for a few more weeks.

"The sunflowers have been cleared out a bit now, but there might be a whole lot more come out in the next few weeks," Kristie Hodges said.

"It's depending on the weather, if we get frost they will go, but at the back of the paddock there are still some around."

The family encourages people passing by to pick and pose for photos in their paddock.

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