Gingham and Green: Canberra woman sets up picnic business

Aimee Brodrick loves picnics and she wants to share that love with Canberra.

The 26-year-old public servant has started a fledgling new business, Gingham and Green, to offer people easy ready-made gourmet picnic baskets for their alfresco dining pleasure.

The idea came to her after a number of trips to markets and specialty stores to organise her own picnics.

"I'm sure there are lots of people in the same boat so my idea for this would be to cut out all the running around and make it nice and easy," she says. "You're still getting quality stuff and supporting local businesses as well."

She hopes to make picnic packages that showcase the best of fresh Canberra produce and ingredients, with salads, cakes, sandwiches and other comestibles from local chefs and producers.

Gingham and Green is still in the planning stage - Brodrick intends to fully launch next spring but is trying to spread the word and sign up new suppliers at the moment.

"Our goal would be to have something like bread with olive oil, a nice balsamic vinegar, cheese, a cold meat platter, a whole heap of desserts and some simple salads and stuff," she says.

Brodrick says she has already signed on Braddon cult bakers Autolyse for bread, plus Burrabee Farms for salads, fermented drinks and cordials, and Babic Biscuiteers for baked goods.

But she will also test the waters this summer, offering a few customers the chance to trial Gingham and Green picnic baskets (or insulated picnic bags, to keep everything cool and fresh).

"We will open up online orders well before, probably in the beginning of the new year, to do a test run with customers. We want it to be perfect," she says.

And her top picnic tip? "I would say being prepared. Maybe being a little bit overprepared!" she says with a laugh. "I took one of my friends on a picnic and I rocked up with picnic hamper, pillows, a blanket to sit on, a blanket to put over you, music, everything. I think you should be well organised. If you go over the top, it's not like you go on a picnic everyday."

Watch this (picnic) space.

Gingham and Green's Top 3 Picnic Spots

Regatta Point

This is one of my favourite spots - you can see lovely sunsets up here.

Yarralumla Yacht Club

Down near the Yacht Club is really nice, you can watch all the sailboats on the lake.

Mount Ainslie

This is a bit of an odd one. There's not really any grassy areas unfortunately but when you go to the lookout there are some dirt tracks that you can easily go down and so long as you have a nice quality rug and pillows you're fine.