Summer, December 2013

This cherry harvest has come and gone quickly. Felt like being stuck on fast forward.

Still harvesting nice stone fruit, have had good rain since last entry.

 

 







Diamond Candy

Yellow flesh peach below

 

 

Ice Princess

 

White flesh peach

 

 

 

Young Diamond Candy peach tree.

 





 

Solar Mate apricots

 

 

Candy Giant plum

 

Candy Rosa plum above and below

Candy Giant below

 



Black Candy plum

 



August Candy plum

 

I took these photos of stone fruit on the 3rd of December, this season 2013 is early.

 





 



.

Young cherry trees planted last winter

 

 

In the garden around the barn

 



 

Tahlia working in the fruit barn

A contemplating frog

 



An overview of the young orchard looking down on the barn

 

Time to contemplate change and offer our property for sale.

 

The fruit barn, over the years has built up a strong return customer base. It makes us proud to think that we have supplied so many families with their Christmas fruit.

 

Still believe we are only scratching at the surface of the properties potential and with some extra capital so much more could be realised.

We have always dreamed of opening a small retail nursery to compliment the fruit barn. A timber gazebo for families to rest and eat on their travels.

You pick assorted berry trellises for families to enjoy more time together.

A block of oak trees for black truffle production as an extra revenue base for the orchard.

These may be dreams, but a customer base has already been established and these extra activities would compliment the business.

If you have ever considered this lifestyle here is your chance.

 

You can see the orchard advertised at www.sellwithoutagents.com.au 

 

just click on the link

 

Best wishes to all.

 

 

 



Keep pushing on harvesting November 2013

 

Weather has still been hot and very dry. Early varieties Empress, Burlat, Supreme, Merchant, Eagles, have only had light to moderate crops. Only using a few staff, struggling to just keep cherries up to the stall. On a positive note cherries have been sweet and clean.

 



 

4 year old Santina row. Has impressive fruit in this dry weather. Pairin, our son Mark and Luke at the ready.  

 



Santina above and below

 







 

 

We were just starting to pick Ron seedlings as a standard when I took these photos below. The other varieties except for Santina were only lightly cropped, but all were impressive and the season is obviously early.

Kristy, Dax and Doug. Dax's first cherry harvest, you have to start them early.



Beautiful little boy.

 





Varieties listed below are the only reasonably cropped cherries after the mild winter we experienced.



 











Stella above and below

 



Lapin below

 





 

Simone above and below

Young Bellise tree below

 



 

Sweet Georgia our last variety below.



 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Rose Bright nectarines first nice showing on young trees. A beautiful piece of fruit.

 

 

Doug ready for some picking.

 

Our son's John and Doug it felt good to take this photo.

 



 

Max guarding the path.



Merv amongst the blossoms

 





 

That is what is going on at Cherry Dale at the moment.

The orchard is starting to really feel the dry and looking a bit stressed, bit like me I guess.

Best wishes to all.

Harvest Time 2013

Started picking some Empress cherries on Sunday October 20. It has been a hot, dry and windy spring with a few frosts thrown in. Empress cherries are only lightly cropped. Other varieties are moderate to reasonably good. Been a challenging spring to work in feels good to have started.

 

It is good having our son's John and Mark helping us in the harvest. Doug to come soon.

  Our son John graduating on September 14 with a Bachelor of Contemporary Music and a Bachelor of Secondary Education. A proud moment for us all.

 

John and his partner Tahlia who is  about to graduate with a Bachelor of Environmental Science with Honours. We are proud of them both. Now they can pick and pack cherries ha ha. 

 

 

And In the garden

 

I will place some more photos of the harvest as it progresses.

Best wishes to all.