Celebrating 20 years of growing cherries on their small holding just east of Wagga Wagga, Noel and Ann Adams are pleased the fruit produced in their boutique orchard has a widespread appeal for their flavour.
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“We have a great reputation for the taste of our fruit,” Mrs Adams said.
“Everyone who comes here makes the comment … ‘why do our cherries have such a great taste?’.”
Mrs Adams puts the excellent eating quality down to the very fertile soil on which the trees are growing and the management of the 1000 trees throughout the year.
“We only ever wanted to be a ‘boutique’ orchard when we moved here 29 years ago from Batlow,” she said.
“Our motto is “From Tree to You” and I think it is reflected in our sales, as we take pride in producing fruit with a great taste.”
The Adams’ sell the majority of their fruit out of their packing shed, and they also attend selected farmers markets along with wholesale outlets.
“We never have any trouble selling all of our produce,” Mrs Adams said.
“A family from Queensland visiting Wagga Wagga said a highlight of their trip was calling at our orchard and tasting freshly picked fruit.”
Mrs Adams said it certainly makes she and her husband proud, and especially as they are the only cherry orchard in the Wagga Wagga area.
On their small holding, the Adams have 15 varieties of cherries planted to extend the growing season from early and mid season crops to those picked in time for peak demand at Christmas.
“We only ever wanted to run a small operation, and so we set out to take advantage of working closely with what we have,” Mrs Adams said.
“On our small area we decided to grow cherries because we thought they would produce the best returns for limited space.”
Among the 15 varieties grown, Mrs Adams said their most successful variety is ‘Sir Don’, named after the great Australian cricketer.
“The trees are prolific bearers, producing a great crop of nice dark and tasty fruit each year, and just in time for the high demand at Christmas,” she said.
Other varieties grown by the Adams included Sir Tom, named for the 33rd South Australian premier Sir Thomas Playford, Lewis Seedling and an American variety which is very popular named Bing.
Mrs Adams said the current crop is certainly better than last year, and might be one of their best ever.
“It could be due to good winter rain and a mild start to the spring, which allowed for terrific fruit set,” she said.
“As well, we didn’t have a lot of frosts while the trees were forming blossoms and that also allowed extra fruit to be produced.”
The 1000 trees can all be watered by drip irrigation, along with overhead sprays which also reduce the effect of late frosts when turned on.
Regular staff are employed during the season in the packing shed, with university students or back-packers employed to pick the fruit.
“They are always a source of reliable workers because they need the income and can earn quite well during the season,” Mr Adams said.
Otherwise the general management of the trees throughout the year, including pruning is done by the Adams with occasional local assistance.
Mr Adams said the trees are kept to a reasonable height so all fruit can be picked without the need to climb ladders.