More of the 2012 Harvest

This has been my 32nd harvest.

Some Lapin Cherries, felt good to handle and tasted beautiful.

Some of the best boxes we have packed this season.

Must be 3 years since I have handled some white cherries (Rainier), the customers loved them that weekend.

Going to plant some Royal Rainier and Rosy Rainier for the customers in our stall.

Fiona and John on a weekend made for harvesting.

Jenny and Fiona with a beautiful display of our fruit for the customers.

I felt proud to have this fruit for sale. The flavour and sweetness (brix level) were the best for years.

Our son John with some superb Solar  Flair apricots.

we noticed lots of return sales this year thanks to the quality of our fruit.

 Below are some Santina on the left and Bellise on the right, off young trees.

\Bellise on the tree, Santina in my hand. Santina had a small percentage of nose check, while Bellise were sound.. Santina were larger and sweeter.

Above and Below, Santina on the young trees.

Sandra Rose below

Black Star above and below. I took these photos while Ron's were being harvested.

Black Star showed minimal cracking and were a good cherry. Note a variety not shown here, Kiona (St Helens) on young trees turned inside out at pink stage after an inch of rain. Not what we want to see.

Some photos of some Empress early in the harvest. 

The same first weekend of harvest, Renata, Andrew, Emily and Holly came to visit and help and learn about the harvest.

John, Jenny, Fiona and Jean Baptiste, JB and Fiona were a pleasure to have working for us. A credit to their parents in France.

We had good harvest weather this season and sold some very good quality fruit to our customers and to the Sydney and Brisbane markets. It could be stated that the Australian cherry industry now oversupplies the domestic market. Perhaps because of the high dollar and wages, large growers have lost their competitive edge, I guess market forces will be the leveler as it is in all industries.