Farm News

 JUNE 2018

Wandering Gully Blueberries

IMPORTANT NOTICE

  As you all know there has been a blueberry rust outbreak in our state for the last two years.

On our farm we have implemented all of the Biosecurity measures set out by Biosecurity Tasmania to keep our property RUST FREE.

  Biosecurity Tasmania checks all KNOWN Blueberry farms three times      during the season for rust incursions.

Our property was declared Rust Free in Dec 2017.

During our picking season this year we had full biosecurity measures in place which included wash stations for shoes, buckets, prams, machinery etc. the full protocol.

All of you who know me and have been to our property would understand the great pride I take in producing quality fruit. This has involved an immense amount of hard work to ensure we supply beautiful, plump, mouth-watering blueberries free of all chemicals and pesticides whilst keeping a healthy, viable and natural eco system for all of our plants and the native bees, frogs and beneficial insects like native wasps, little spiders etc so they are all happily working together.

UNFORTUNATELY all of our efforts have been in vain and we were found to have rust three weeks ago! I believe we must have been infected sometime between Feb and May.

I believe that wind and birds have spread the rust from somewhere to our property.

I didn’t think we would ever be infected because we are so remote.

The rust spores can be spread hundreds of kilometres by wind, let alone how far birds can fly.

I have not introduced any new blueberry plants onto our property since we first planted over twenty years ago.

So what happens now?

·        All of last seasons’ fruit is NOT infected by rust and is perfectly fine.

·        Our blueberry season for next year will be basically closed.

·        NO PYO.

·        Nobody in our orchard except ourselves. Fully equipped with all biosecurity measures in place.

·        We will be undergoing a copper spray regime which is said to eliminate all rust spores.

·        I am planning to hit this problem hard.  We have been researching and have sourced a product that is supposedly accepted as organic but it is still a copper spray.

·        We are legally bound to spray with a copper mix.

·        We do have to be cleared of rust by Biosecurity Tasmania before we can start selling fresh again.

·        I want to heavily prune all of my blueberry bushes in the hope that all rust will be eliminated. There are problems associated with this because prunings have to be buried one foot underground. I cannot fathom the huge hole that would be needed for this, which also has to be in our orchard area. Hence we are trying to work out a solution to this problem. Apparently we are not allowed to burn. I would have thought that once our bushes have been sprayed 3 times (which is the protocol) all rust spores would be eliminated and should not spread by burning. All other countries burn. Anyway we are working on some sort of charcoal furnace plan. If this all proves to be too hard I just won’t prune until we are declared rust free.

I cannot begin to explain how totally devastating this is to Tony, myself and our family. All we can do now is follow the strict protocols that we had in place (clearly this wasn’t enough in the first place!) and continue on but with more severe legal guidelines.

At this stage, if cleared by Biosecurity Tasmania, we may be able to sell frozen fruit and fresh berries into shops, or privately, once we are declared rust free.

We can sell frozen as freezing kills rust spores. When we are totally cleared we will not have to spray again but this will take all of next season and maybe the one after. I am still in shock and deciding where to go from here.

I do not think I will have berries next year, the 2019 season. I am not sure what the future will bring. I believe that the rust problem is here to stay in our state.  

Thank you to all of you for your custom and thank you for your understanding and using our wash stations last season.

I will keep you updated as I get my head around all of the rules and regulations.

Kind regards and best wishes to you all,

Cathy

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May 2017
Our 2017 blueberry season was definitely bountiful but an extremely strange season. The first 4 weeks were cold and wet. It is the first season I have experienced where the berries took a long time to sweeten due to the weather.
In the past I usually find that once they are blue, and left on the bush for a week to sweeten before picking, I have ample available at all times, but not this year it was a struggle to keep up with sweet fruit. 
For my own taste I like a mixture of sweet and tart fruit; but when you are trying to supply a outstanding, tasty Blueberry a mixture of sweet and tart is not always what people want. I found myself willing the fruit to ripen more quickly and praying for the weather to warm up, it did eventually but the cold weather set the fruit back this year. Thankfully blueberries are such a health boost that most people love them anyway. Phew!! 
I have slowly started weeding and pruning again. This job takes me forever and often I don't get through it all but I rotate my efforts so it possibly all works out well in the end. I am passionate about providing mouth-watering, tasty fruit. I hand weed/brushcut and prune, I fertilise with organic liquid seaweed and fish emulsion to provide a healthy, spray free, beautiful tasting fruit to my customers. Hoping next season is a sweeter one. Wishing you happiness and good health. Cheers, Cathy.😊
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 August 2016
I haven't been a very diligent provider of info on this site so here is an update.

The 2016 blueberry season was early, we had a very short season, probably only 4-5 weeks. Our season was plagued with bush fires and our property was covered in thick smoke most days, which, as you could imagine, was quite worrisome. The blueberries survived and were as delicious as ever.

I would not usually post personal info but if anyone has been wondering why I haven't been to markets it is because I have had a damaged spine this was operated on this year and I hope to be totally recovered by March next year. I will not be able to return to the markets until the 2018 season at this stage as full recovery is 12 months.

PYO is available in 2017 as usual. I don't think the berries will be as beautifully mulched etc as usual but this will not change their delicious flavour. Our delicious blueberries will also be available at the usual retail outlets I have listed on our Where We Sell page.

Cheers, look forward to seeing you or supplying you with our wonderful blueberries in 2017. 
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2015
I decided to put this tab in because I would like to write post at different times and I realised if I post on my home page the info there gets pushed to the bottom.

Today I took some photos of my preserves I have posted  them under the Our Products tab. They have come through a bit blurry (it didn't look like that when I was checking them before downloading) anyway I will leave them there for now, and more detailed info for that page and the rest of our pages in the near future. Have a lovely day!.
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Feb 24th 2015
PYO available for another couple of weeks.
We have had a beetle plaque this year but never the less our wonderful blueberry bushes have provided us with a bounty of fruit, a lot of great fruit along with beetle damaged ones.Blueberries are amazing plants and they are growing new leaves and have powered on throughout the season to provide  us with yummy berries. We love our delicious blueberries and we are so glad you love them as well. They truly are "Health in a Mouthful".
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Feb 28th 2014
Sadly our blueberry season has come to an end. Thanks so much to everyone who enjoys our delicious blueberries. Every second season our blueberry bushes put more energy into growth than fruit and this year was a growth year. We still had a lovely crop but just not enough of it.
Looking forward to next year and all of your smiling faces.
Cheers,
Cathy
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Feb 2014.
Well the season so far has been very busy, fruit is mouth watering and very delicious. The heat is a bit too much for the berries and they are ripening very quickly. My blueberry season will be shorter this year. PYO available now. Please ring and find out details.
Enjoy the remainder of summer!

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Sept 2013.
Time seems to pass so quickly.....so little time so much to do. The weather has been consistently wet. Blueberry bushes are starting to bud and I still have to prune, weed and mulch, it is never ending. Hoping for a break in the rain soon.

Excited for the coming season! Don't forget to check out the recipes by clicking on the recipe tab.

Cheers!
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