The management of Rare Fruit Australia has now moved to become the responsibility of the Mackay Branch of the RFA. Hinkler Branch has provided the executive for the last three years.
The new executive for 2011/12/13 is:

President Nick Cronan
Secretary Paul Andrew
Treasurer Alyth Tweedie
Vice President William Fox

The theme for the new magazine is Colour your life with fruit

The latest edition of the Rare Fruit Review - 2010 is now available. Contact the treasurer if you wish to purchase a copy. Phone Jenny Tait 07 4157 9691. The Table of Contents is below:

ENJOY YOUR FRUIT – SPECIAL FEATURES
4 The Joy of Jakfruit
A step by step guide in how to prepare and eat a jakfruit.

6 Tangy Taste Sensation
Making the most of yellow mangosteens.

9 Fruit Farrago
Snippets about preparing fruit.

10 The Delights of Soursop
How to grow, handle, store and use a soursop.

13 Florida Conversation
David Chandlee talks to Florida rare fruit enthusiast, Steve Brady, about growing fruit that tastes the best.

17 Growing up in Brazil
Brazilians enjoyed their fruit in the 1960s and 1970s.

GROWING FRUIT

18 Subtropical Secret
The white sapote is the perfect choice in a sub-tropical orchard.

21 All in one package
The star apple gives fabulous foliage, flowers and fruit.

CULTURE

22 Home Grown Health
Take the time to learn how to improve your soil

25 Untimely Death
Is sour sap the culprit? Eddie Dunn discusses the factors which may cause unexplained death of young trees.

EXPLORATION

27 Serendipity in Solomon Islands
Old orchard research stations lost to the jungle are rediscovered, as part of an AusAid program.

28 Breadfruit Matters
Bits and pieces about breadfruit

30 World Traveller
Mango is considered to be the most popular fruit in the world.

32 Tropical exposure
Ray Johnson journeys to the tropical climate of Far North Queensland.

33 Guatamalan Adventure
An Australian rambutan grower describes her recent visit to Central America

PROCESSING

35 Creative Crisps
A new way to market sweet potatoes
:arrow:

The next meeting for the Mackay Branch will be held on Sunday 16th October 2011 as an outdoor meeting at Marian. For information or directions please phone Paul 49598671

The april edition of the ABC Gardening magazine has a 6 page story on Cape Trib Exotic Fruit Farm.
You can read the story here, written by Jennifer Stackhouse.

The Christmas meeting of the Hinkler Branch was hosted at Ted and Daphne Harris. Ted can be seen offering a raspberry

Rare Fruit Australia’s Annual General Meeting in March 2008 attracted a contingent of more than 60 fruit and vegetable enthusiasts from branches along Queensland’s east coast.

Host branch, Mossman, organised inspections of three distinctly different properties during the two-day event.

The Botanical Ark, a private botanical garden in beautiful Whyanbeel Valley, near Mossman, featured an amazing tropical rainforest with many rare and endangered tropical plants from around the world. Alan and Susie Carle started their project more than 24 years ago, first as a flower farm, and in 1990 as private ethno-botanical gardens. The Carles regularly travel the tropical regions of the world, with a special interest in plants that indigenous rainforest cultures have and still use for their foods, spices, shelter, medicine, cosmetics, fibres, oils, dyes – their everyday needs.

Alan and Susie escorted Rare Fruit Australia members on a tour, pointing out properties of various trees, shrubs and vines – along with a warning against uninvited sampling of fruits and berries, as many in their collection are quite poisonous. However, Alan said their breadfruit trees were probably the property’s most useful, as they provided a steady, reliable and ample supply of quality food.

Cape Trib Farmstay, Cape Tribulation, was established by Colin and Dawn Gray in 1981, as a tropical exotic fruit orchard on a former historic grazing property, clearing in 1934. With fruit seeds collected from around the world, they planted more than 10 hectares of orchards while raising four young children in “pioneering conditions”.

The farm’s tropical location and atmosphere was enhanced by occasional showers during the visit by Rare Fruit Australia members – after all, it is set in a rainforest.

The farm’s main commercial crops – durian, mangosteen and rambutan – are well represented amongst more than 50 different species of tropical fruit trees. Following orchard devastation by Cyclone Rona in 1999, Colin and Dawn opted to diversify and built a number of comfortable farmstay cabins for visitors.

Cape Trib Exotic Fruit Farm, just a short distance away, hosted a sausage sizzle and farm walk for Rare Fruit Australia visitors. Alison and Digby Gotts “found” Cape Tribulation in January 1986 while travelling from Melbourne to take up teaching positions in Darwin. They fell in love with the amazing area, particularly the rainforest, isolation and warm climate – and the extraordinary variety of unusual fruit that flourished there.

They have chosen to establish an organic fruit farm and apply the philosophy of permaculture. Digby and Alison said they needed to develop a system which copied the rainforest and provided a supply of nutrients to the orchard trees through rotting material and vegetative matter. Through field experiments, they have found some trees are more suitable to the area than others, with delicious mangosteen a proven winner in the extremely rocky soil.

The latest edition of the Rare Fruit Review is now available and will be posted out to branches and members shortly. The theme is ‘In My Backyard’ with articles on Garden Design Permaculture Plant Design Lists Adels Grove Tropical Food Trail Dwarf Coconuts New Rare Fruit Organic Conversion The Marula Tree Improving orchard soil School vegetable gardens AND MORE.

Extra copies are available for sale to non RFCA members at $8 per copy plus postage.
Email webmanager@rarefruitaustralia.org if you wish to purchase a copy

Shirley Kerle, president of the Mackay Branch reports on the day:

It was a fine, sunny and very pleasant Sunday. I had lots of willing workers to help with the setting up of the display and I think it looked very colourful. It was a little quite to start with but soon became busy with a steady stream of visitors eager to taste the fruit on offer. This included jakfruit (fresh, dried & frozen), longan, ruby grapefruit, lemonade fruit, breadfruit chips, granadilla, governors plum and red mombin (even though these had been frozen the majority of the visitors thought they were really nice). I think the most popular fruit was the chempedak as I could hardly keep the plate topped up.

There was also pink lime, Glycosmis pentaphylla, the fruit of a little native plant which created lots of interest. Dale said there was a very close relative, Glycosmis trifoliata, growing in the gardens which bore a similar edible fruit.

The fruit of the yellow pitaya, sometimes known as dragon fruit, was a very welcome addition to the table. Of course we had the old party trick, a miracle fruit followed by a slice of lime.

We were kept busy answering lots of questions but I also learnt that the nice fresh young tips of the saba nut tree are edible. I tried these and found that not only are they edible (I’m still alive and writing this report) but they are also quite tasty. Only eat the very fresh young, pale green tips and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Ray Zillmann was the over all winner of the Mackay Branch fruit & cooking competition for 2006. Ray got to take home the Marion Burns perpetual trophy for the second time.

Ray is a very deserving winner as it’s not unusual for him to have something in each of the three different categories of the competition at each meeting.

Ray is always ready to volunteer his help when needed and always donates lots of goodies for our auction.

What a Backyard!

We visit Dave Hodge’s backyard in Edge Hill,CAIRNS and he will show us

• Cyclone Proofing plants with dual planting.
• Pond Apple as rootstock
• Lawnmower compost
• Sustainable watering.
• Trellised gourds.
• Local beans for the kitchen.
• Nematode prevention.

Come and see for yourself.
Members $2, Visitors $5

START: 12:00 midday at the picnic area opposite Cominos House in the Botanic Gardens in Greenslopes St. We will explore the tropical food gardens nearby
See map. Look for RFCA signs.

Bring your own picnic lunch. There is a BBQ available in the gardens.
Moving to Dave Hodges backyard for talk and tour at 202 Jensen St Edge Hill for 1:30 start . How about making an effort and bring a rare fruit tasty treat to share for afternoon

The ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the RFCA was held on March 26, 2007 at Bundaberg, with 28 members attending.

The following positions were filled
President - Digby Gotts
Vice President - Alan Small
Secretary - Alison Gotts
Treasurer - Tony Woodall

Committee positions:
Gordon Tait - Hinkler
Ross Dickson - Wide
Paul Andrew - Mackay
Bob Tinknell - Cardwell

You can read the full minutes which will be posted on the home page of the website, as well as some articles about the different farms visited during the weekend.

The AGM will be held on the 24th March, 2007 at the Pine Creek Hall, south of Bundaberg. Phone Gordon and Jenny for more details 4157 9691.

There is a full 2 day program on the weekend which includes visits to three orchards.

SATURDAY 19TH AUGUST

HIGH FALLS FARM
1.30 pm

High Falls Farm provides an exotic fruit display orchard adjacent to its riverside restaurant. This orchard was established by Ron Berry many years ago. We will revisit the trees and see how they have changed. The present owner is Lynn Le’Carpentier.

Follow the Miallo Road turn off from the Daintree rd, until you come to the Whyanbeel turn off and follow the RFCA signs.

For more information call Dawn Meneikys 4098 2664

Members $2

Guests $5

Please bring a chair and a plate for afternoon tea.

Hi fellow rare fruit enthusiasts

Mossman RFCA will be holding their next field day on Saturday June 24th at 1.30 pm at Gray’s farm in Julatten.

After Cyclone Larry, many of us are looking at major damage to rare and valuable fruit trees and probably wondering what the best thing is to do – rip it out or prune it or prop it up. Don and Jeannette Gray at Julatten are coping with these decisions right now, so if you have suffered or are likely to do so in the next storm – you may have some interest in seeing what someone else has done.

There has been a very heavy wet season this year and they are faced with a large amount of maintenance work to get the orchard back under control. Come along and learn the most effective techniques for orchard management.

Members $2
Visitors $5
Please bring a plate of food for afternoon tea and some of your rare fruit in season for the tasting table.

See you there

Digby Gotts
President Mossman RFCA
Phone 4098 0057

Jim Wait, the Senior Horticulturalist Advisor at the Kamerunga Research Station in Cairns during the 1980s, died at the weekend. Jim contributed many articles to the rare fruit magazine over the years, and had a wealth of knowledge. He will be sadly missed.

A great weekend followed by an extreme cyclone. The motel where everyone stayed on Saturday night lost its roof in the early hours of Monday morning. Several RFCA members were moved to the evacuation centre.

A wonderful field trip to the Salleras farm on Saturday morning at El Arish provided lots of information. Peter took us in a convoy of utes around his property to view and taste durians, rollinias, rambutans, mangosteens and assorted Borneo fruits. Everyone who attended that day will be wondering how the farm has faired after the cyclone.

Lunch at the El Arish community hall was organised by Maria Williamson with her band of helpers. A great effort with loads of interesting food made from local produce, accompanied by assorted fruit wines from Shannonvale Winery (Tony and Trudi are RFCA members).

The Annual General Meeting was held at 3.00pm and the Mosman Branch Executive were reconfirmed as the executive for the National Executive Council. Reports and Minutes will be posted to this site as they come available.

The Feast of the Senses was held in the main street of Innisfail on Sunday morning, with the cyclone becoming a shadow over the event. The range of stalls was fantastic, and the blue sky and sunny weather made it hard to believe that cyclone larry was hatching out at sea.

The AGM of the RFCA will be held at 3.00pm on Saturday 18th March at the El Arish Community Hall, after a luncheon at 1.30pm.