Fruits of festive season
Creating summertime memories is all in a day’s work for our Aussie producers
THERE’S no need for Christmas baubles when the table is full of summer fruit. Decorations don’t come any more colourful than the rosy blush of perfect ripe peaches and nectarines, the shiny crimson of a bowl of cherries and the gold and orange of sun-kissed mangoes.
“Stone fruit is always associated with Christmas time,” says Rocky Varapodio, from Oakmoor Orchards in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley. “It’s such a refreshing summertime treat.”
Rocky, whose grandfather started planting fruit trees in the area, now grows peaches, apricots, nectarines and plums that are picked through to the end of March, as well as an autumn crop of apples and pears.
Gerard Alampi, of Prima Fresh Orchards, picks a similar mix of fruit from properties nearby as well as further north, near the Murray
River at Cobram. Gerard says the timing of his crop means there is little or no time to relax over the festive season.
“We can only really have Christmas Day off … and in the past we have had to work then as well,” he says with a laugh.
“The fruit can’t wait … some days it just has to be picked.”
Not that he’s complaining. “The smell (of peaches) in the orchard and in the packing house is really something. You just want to eat one, and then another and another.”
While it operates in a very different part of Australia, this is also a frantically busy time for Manbulloo Mangoes, which has seven plantations in the Northern Territory and Far North
Queensland, producing more than 10 million mangoes.
The harvest begins in September and runs to midNovember, with ripening dependant on location, conditions and the variety of fruit, says owner Marie Piccone.
Once ripened, the mangoes will drop from the tree within seven to 14 days, so more than 200 workers are needed across both states to keep up with the volume of fruit.
Marie says Manbulloo’s aim is to give Australians “happy summertime memories”.
“People associate mangoes with summer, Christmas and the beach,” she says. “They don’t just buy mangoes to be healthy, they buy them for a happy eating experience.”
And the Christmas cherry crop is looking good at Ceravolo Orchards, a fourth-generation family business in the Adelaide Hills that has been supplying Coles for 50 years.
More than 130 people will pick and pack over the next few weeks, as they bring in a large part of the company’s average annual cherry harvest of 300 tonnes.
Owner Tony Ceravolo says more than 30 varieties of cherries are planted, which ripen at different stages and help spread the risk in bad weather.
A new project to cover 7000 trees with a retractable poly carbon roof and walls will provide extra protection, helped by a loan from the Coles Nurture Fund.
Tony says cherries are perfect for relaxed holiday eating. “The kids are on holidays and cherries are a really good snack. They are easy to prepare and good for you.”