Many families have headed into the orchards of Orange, NSW, in the past few weeks as ‘pick-your-own’ becomes an increasingly popular method of buying fruit.
Paula Charnock, the daugher of Thornbrook Orchard owners Arthur and Janet Treweek, said families had come from Sydney just to pick their own cherries.
“We would have got a few hundred people,” she said.
Thornbrook, at Nashdale, is one of nine orchards listed on the Visit Orange website [www.visitorange.com.au] that offered cherry lovers a place to pick their own.
Mrs Charnock said they started in mid-November and some of the last cherries were picked on Boxing Day.
She said they would assess what was left of the crop before deciding whether to continue picking this week.
Mrs Charnock said most people did cherry picking as a fun day out, rather than just to get cheaper cherries.
Most of the Orange region orchards advertised prices of $5-6 a kilogram which is about half the pre-picked rate.
“It is not about the price of the cherries, it is about the experience,” she said.
“People come up from Sydney.
“They want to show their kids cherries don’t just come from supermarkets.”
She said the orchard had changed from selling to market to a wholly pick-your-own operation.
That included having a range of cherries to extend the picking season as long as possible.
“We grow 18 varieties of cherries,” she said.
Mrs Charnock said there was a risk of people damaging the trees.
“It is a problem, it is one of the negatives of pick-your-own,” she said.
“People aren’t as kind on your trees as you would like.”
However she said they tried to reduce the damage by showing people how to pick properly.
Mario Martelli of Martelli Orchards at Borenore, said the cherry season had finished and the next pick-your-own fruit would be blackberries in February followed by apples a few weeks later.
“Everybody loves to come out and pick your own,” he said.
Mr Martelli said about 2000 people visited the orchard’s first pick-your-own season.
He said they would do it again next year.
He said they allocated one line for pick-your-own.
People should ring the orchards before going out to pick to ensure they were open and had fruit available.
PICK-YOUR-OWN CHERRIES
According to the Visit Orange website the following orchards offer a pick-your-own fruit experience. The season has ended for most cherry picking this year. Ring the orchard before visiting them.
- Borrodell on the Mount, Lake Canobolas Rd, 6365 3425
- Gerry’s Cherries, Akhurst Road, Nashdale, 0422 424 908
- Martelli Orchards, Watts Road, Borenore, 0402 600 030
- Hillside Harvest, Escort Way, Borenore, 6365 2247
- John Cantrill’s Orchard, Akhurst Road, Borenore, 0418 650 235
- Kelanvale, Borenore Road, Borenore, 0428 252 054
- Prospect Orchard, Cargo Road, Nashdale, 0421 835 121
- Rosefarm, Nancarrow Lane, Nashdale, 0458 487 501
- Thornbrook Orchard, Nashdale Lane, Nashdale, 0427 269 437.