"We need winter to play a role in producing good fruit."

Mrs Pateman says some farmers are heeding the old adage, 'make hay while the sun shines'. "Pumpkins and cucumbers are still growing," she said. "I've noticed some switched-on farmers even have new crops of tomatoes in now. They are taking advantage of this warmer weather, which is really smart. It's still a gamble though. If we get a frost right now, you could lose the crop. But you'll get a good price for tomatoes right now. It's the way of life with farming. There's floods, droughts, and sometimes no frosts!" (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)

Between the rows of radishes he planted three weeks ago, Darrin Pateman has four varieties of sugar cane growing in a trial. "Sugar cane theoretically loves hot weather. I planted it a month ago. It shouldn't have come up yet, but it seems to be growing nicely." (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)

A small patch of wild turnip is buzzing with bees. "This patch is loaded with flowers," Mr Pateman said. And cabbage moths. "It's normally too cold for moths, but they're still flying around and laying eggs," Mr Pateman said. "When they hatch we'll see holes in the cabbages. We're noticing them now when they normally should be gone." The Patemans keep the wild turnip patch close to fruit trees to help breed lady beetles. "The lady beetles get rid of the aphids. A lady beetle can eat about 500 aphids in a day." (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)

Mulberry trees and passionfruit vines are still producing fruit on the Pateman property. "We've noticed a lot of trees that are usually shut down and storing their energy still producing a crop in winter," Mr Pateman said. "At the markets people say 'I can't believe you're picking mulberries now, you're a bit late'. And I say 'it's our second crop!' The bright side is that we get another crop now. But we might not get a crop next year. When it finally decides to shut down we hope it'll have the energy to store to bring into summer. Time will tell," he said. (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)

The fig trees on their property are forming fruit already. "We wouldn't want to see any sign of fruit forming until November," Mr Pateman said. "The first week of June is not a good sign. We can always pull the fruit off, but it's already wasted energy trying to produce it in the first place. We usually grow absolutely beautiful figs, but last year we didn't get any. Trees prefer an ideal weather pattern, so I'll be interested to see what happens next year. They definitely like a rest during winter." (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)

Darrin and Kylie Pateman live on an organic farm at Cabarlah, 20 minutes north of Toowoomba. While happy to still be wearing t-shirts in the second week of winter, they are hoping for a frost soon. "I hate winter," admitted Mrs Pateman. "Last year we had a really mild winter. I don't even remember a frost. I thought it was wonderful, but the result was less fruit in spring." (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)

Darrin Pateman says he hasn't been able to lock away the lawnmower for the season yet.

"We're still mowing like crazy! We're picking berries and growing a lot of small crop stuff we normally wouldn't grow this time of year," he said.

Kylie Pateman says you can definitely taste the cold weather.

"A frost definitely sweetens the citrus and other small crops," she explained. "Broccoli and celery like a bit of a frost too."

The Patemans are concerned that a warmer start to this winter, following a mild winter last year, will lead to an uncertain future.

"The way the seasons are changing makes it harder to predict the usual summer, then autumn, then winter, then spring. They're all flowing into each other and extending," Mrs Pateman said.

"In the short-term, growing things out of season can be great. We'll get good money for the fruit and vegetables. But in the long-term we don't know what sort of effect it'll have," she said.