HELLO,
Today in the GENERAL NEWS, we are truly thrilled to introduce a new brand to The Hub General Store - The Tumut Broom Factory.
Located in Tumut, a small town in the NSW Snowy Mountains, Millet brooms have been handmade the same way since 1946.
Owned by Geoff and Robert, The Tumut Broom Factory is the last original millet broom factory in Australia. There was once 14 factories similar to this across Australia, but now The Tumut Broom Factory is the very last of it's kind.
We love the hand crafted nature of this very basic, yet essential household item. It goes without saying that the daily task of sweeping around your home is vastly more satisfying with a Tumut Factory Broom in hand.
The process of each handmade broom begins in a staggered 90 day crop over a six month period. It is always harvested by hand as the millet is too tall to be done mechanically.
The millet is 'tabled' - the process of bending over armfuls of millet stalks from different rows to form an interlaced table of millet. A small knife is then used to remove the millet heads and then the millet is dried for three weeks.
The bundles of millet heads are spread out on tables to dry for a day, then taken inside and put over racks for another three weeks for further drying, and removal of millet seed.
The millet is delivered to the factory and hand graded for length and quality. It is bound onto the broom handle using wire, with the straightest fibres placed on the outside of the broom to achieve a nice finish.
Each broom is then sewn using a stitching machine, with between two and seven lines of heavy thread stitched across the millet depending on the size of the broom.
We now have a range of 5 brooms in-store for you to experience. Drop in and see them with your own eyes.
Warmly,
The Shopkeeper Team