The Christmas meeting of the Hinkler Branch was hosted at Ted and Daphne Harris. Ted can be seen offering a raspberry
]]>President Nick Cronan
Secretary Paul Andrew
Treasurer Alyth Tweedie
Vice President William Fox
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
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The Christmas meeting of the Hinkler Branch was hosted at Ted and Daphne Harris. Ted can be seen offering a raspberry
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Price is $8 plus postage
To buy a copy contact
Jenny Tait
Phone 07 4157 9691
or email treasurer@rarefruitaustralia.org
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Rambutan Reminiscence
Colin Gray discusses the different rambutan varieties that were collected
in the 1980s
Treasure Trove
The amazing Flecker Botanic Gardens
Database Challenge
Learn about efforts to record and track tropical food plants
Inside the Palmetum
Australia’s largest collection of palms thrives in a fascinating
habitat
Delicious Dwarves
This is not a cannibal’s recipe or fairytale
Creating a Collection
Guidelines and recommendations on getting started
FRUIT
Fruit of Kings
The kepel could only be consumed by royalty in Indonesia
Dragonfruit Destiny
Pitaya exported from Mexico to Vietnam, becomes a major crop
CULTURE
Getting Started
Ray Johnston starts his own collection at Gin Gin, Queensland
Know your Enemy
Dan Papacek explains how to control fruit fly
Do you have Borers?
Look for the evidence and save your trees
Facing up to Frost
Some practical ideas to survive the next big frost
Mango Flowering
Problems with fruit set in cool districts
PROCESSING
Quick and Easy
Make coffee from your own beans
BOOK REVIEWS
Tropical Gardener’s Gourmet Guide
Edible Water Gardens
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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.
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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
Extra copies are available for sale to non RFCA members at $8 per copy plus postage.
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