Ending 2015, the beginning of Achacha in 2016!

Apologies for our lack of news this year. We’ve had a long dry period – virtually no rain since March. And very little cool weather during the winter. As a result other tropical fruits in the area have exhibited unusual behaviours – mango growers have had two flowerings, small fruit, small crops, with an eight week picking season instead of the normal four; lychees have been hard to come by. Our Achachas are looking fine but late in ripening – we don’t expect to start picking until sometime in January.

Fortunately we have plenty of irrigation water so the trees have been watered regularly, but nothing replaces natural rainfall.

The extended drought in the region has meant that our apiarist, Steve, has had problems maintaining hive populations. To make matters worse, when Achacha flowering commenced rainbow bee-eaters, attractive medium sized birds which live off bees and wasps, were still in the area; normally they have moved elsewhere by August. So the few bees in the depleted hives faced certain death if they went about their normal work. As a result – no Achacha Blossom Honey this season. We’ve been fielding lots of enquiries for the honey, but we have our fingers crossed for next season. It’s been a sad season for honey in general up here in the north and we feel for the apiarists who are doing it tough.

Our seasonal comp will be launched soon. That means guessing the date the first pallets are loaded and leave the packing shed door in 2016. In order to participate you’ll need to LIKE our Facebook page and enter your date in a comment under one of the posts. For those who have jumped the gun, we’ve got you listed!

We wish you a safe and happy festive season and look forward to you finding us in good fruit stores near you. If you don’t see the fruit on display, please ask the local fruit manager to locate some at wholesale markets. If all else fails, you can always count on our on-line sales. The page will go up when the harvest commences.