Taste the fruits of summer

rnethery — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:34:21 +0000

Sunnyside Orchard is a family farm which has operated for 50 years just north of Dubbo on the Macquarie River. Situated on prime river flats, the orchard has 4,000 stone fruit trees including peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots. We grow 54 varieties of stone fruit which mature at different times during summer – this means the varieties on sale usually change from week to week. Although our picking season runs from November until March, the orchard is a year-round operation which involves pruning and thinning to achieve good fruit quality and size.

Growing our fruit

Pruning

In winter the trees are dormant. This is when pruning takes place. Pruning reduces the number of laterals (twigs) on the limbs and helps to keep each tree healthy so it can grow new wood for the following year’s crop.

Bud burst

Towards the end of winter buds start to burst and the trees are smothered in a sea of pink blossom. Each flower on the tree represents one piece of fruit. Bees work to pollinate the flowers as they open. In spring the fruit sets and the flowers fall away. This is when fruit-thinning begins.

Fruit thinning

By October thousands of small pieces of fruit have set on each tree. Most of this fruit needs to be removed by hand. This allows each remaining piece of fruit to grow big and plump because it can access nutrients without competition. Only two or three pieces of fruit are left evenly spaced on each lateral.

Picking In late November the first variety ripens and picking gets underway. Each variety ripens during a seven to ten day period. Picking is always carried out in the cool of the morning with great care taken in handling the fruit. Fruit is picked into buckets, loaded into crates and transported to our packing shed.