ORGANIC heirloom delights grow in an historic orchard, ALEX SAMPSON writes.

Petty's Orchard has the best of both worlds.
Nestled on 40ha of crown land fronting the Yarra River in suburban Templestowe, the organic orchard is an oasis of rolling hills but conveniently located for the farmers' markets and boutique greengrocers of the city. The Petty family founded the farm in 1853 and managed the orchard until Parks Victoria bought the property in 1981.

John Mustafa took over in 2000 with his wife Nancy and grew pears, plums, nectarines, peaches and apricots as well as every variety of apple under the sun on the 100-year-old orchard.

There are more than 217 varieties of new-age and heirloom apples growing. The orchard focuses on heritage fruit, and John grows German, English and French varieties such as providence and snow apples, because he believes these apples have a better flavour than anything else on the market.

"I can hand you a heritage apple that tastes a zillion times better than any of the new-age ones like pink lady, royal gala or fuji," John said. "They're well over 100 years old and have more character than regular varieties."

John is a third-generation fruit grower who grew up on a stone-fruit orchard in the Goulburn Valley. His father bought his first orchard in Australia the 1960s and before that grew fruit in Europe. Growing fruit is definitely in the family. "I love it because, basically, you're outdoors seven days a week and you get the satisfaction of being able to grow then pick your fruit and enjoy that process," he said.

That said, not one of his four sons wants to take over the business. "They all want to do other things, and say they couldn't think of working like dad does. But one out of four wanting to would be nice ... "

Because Petty's is located on the Yarra River, irrigation is easy for John to manage. He runs drip lines that pump up to 90 megalitres a year out of the Yarra through six filtration lines, which ensure water clarity. When John took over the farm there were two filters in place, but he decided a further four were necessary. "This year we've hardly needed to irrigate thanks to all the rain," John said. All the fruit trees are covered in bird netting and spraying is done with a mild organically-certified formula from August through to February.
Antifungals are prohibited for organic growers so John takes his chances against black spot. "A lot of people are very sceptical about organic, but it's the real deal. "If people knew what chemicals were sprayed on the normal apple they're eating, they wouldn't eat it."
But John is not about to paint a rosy picture when it comes to the challenges of organic farming. "It's what you make out of it and we rely on mother nature to give us a good season. "All you need is a hail storm or heavy rain and there goes your margins. You spend all year pruning, fertilising and tending, then it all goes out the window. Historically we grow stone fruit in the family, but its prone to nasties like black spot and cotton moth, which means we lose a lot of fruit. It's a lot easier to grow apples and pears organically than stone fruit."
John said recent downpours and humidity would cause rot and 30 per cent of the stone fruit would be lost.The couple run a shop on the orchard, selling a full range of groceries including pasta, canned fruit, teas, coffees and vegies as well as their acclaimed fruit. All the stock, including produce sourced elsewhere, is certified organic.

Another challenge is that organic fruit can only be stored for a maximum of 12 months, keeping John on his toes to meet demand. Despite the difficulties, he said having been on both sides of the fence as a conventional farmer on his father's farm before he took over Petty's, he'd seen enough of both operations to know organic was right for him.

Petty's market is largely Melbourne based with 60 to 70 per cent going to the wholesale market and 30 per cent sold through the shop, which is open Friday and Saturday from 9am to 5.30pm. Nancy runs the shop two days a week and John's dad, Sam, still works half days in the orchard to keep fit and do what he loves.There are three full-time workers and 25 contractors who come on to help with picking and packing in harvest season from December to May for apples and pears and from the end of January to the start of April for the stone fruit.

The orchard's 12,000 trees produce 250 to 300 tonnes of apples and pears each season, with 30 to 40 per cent going to waste due to disease, weather or pests. Produce goes to outlets such as the Victoria Market organic section, Organics by Lamanna in Brunswick and Ceres Market. Apples sell at the farm gate for $3 to 3.50 a kilogram, with some heritage varieties up to $4.

Every year Petty's Orchard hosts the Antique Apple Tasting Festival, which attracts up to 4000 people from all over Australia.

Copyright (c) 2011 The Weekly Times