Gold Medal
Blackcurrant Liqueur

Silver Medal
Raspberry Liqueur
Tayberry Liqueur
Wild Blackberry Liqueur
Blackberry Wine

Bronze Medal
Cherry Liqueur
Jostabery Liqueur
Raspberry Wine

Strawberries

You now have the choice of all nine varieties with their wide range of flavours. As well we have new varieties that, while having great flavour, are the size of small apples.

The pick-your-own price this year for all berries is $9.00 per kg.

Loganberries, tayberries and silvanberries

Loganberries and tayberries are now ripening and we expect a very large crop of silvanberries to be ripe next week.

Boysenberries, Redcurrants and Jostaberries

Boysenberries will be ripe in early December, along with redcurrants and, later, Jostaberries. These are of course just the fruits to give your summer puddings that extra flavour lift.

Broad beans

We have a huge crop and it should continue until near Christmas.
Our price is $2.90 per kg PYO.

Cherries

The season appears to be running late and we expect the first cherries to be ripe around December 5, with the main crop close to Christmas and running through to late January.

“Jams” without cane sugar

We are very pleased to release a strawberry spread made without the use of cane sugar for those special customers who need to avoid cane sugar for health or dietary reasons. We call it a “spread” as by regulation jams must contain fruit and cane or beet sugar. In their place we used concentrated pear juice.

Our exceptionally wet winter and early spring, following many frosts has delivered a very green spring and the promise of excellent crops.

Now it’s cherry blossom time and early indications are for a spectacular display.

So on Saturday, October 3, we open for our Fourth Cherry Blossom Fiesta, which will run until October 12.

We invite you to stroll amongst these beautiful blossoms that are alive with hard working bees. Also view the new strawberry beds, with new varieties, lots of early flowers and even a few ripe fruit.

The tayberries, silvanberries and loganberries are also a picture with plenty of flowers and hard working bees.

We expect the first pickable strawberries around the middle of October.

Also try our new batch of liqueurs and wines, especially the new ones made from our sweet cherries.

The farm will open daily at 10am and close at 4pm in October, and also in March-May. From November until February inclusive the hours will be 8.30am to 5.00pm, every day of the week.

Sorell fruit Farm grows two distinct types of strawberries in relation to their fruiting season.

Most of our varieties are called day neutral types which set fruit continuously in four or five bursts.

The second group are referred to as short day types. These have two or three bursts of fruit in the spring and early summer, and often have another crop in March-May.

In practice the mix of varieties means we have very good crops in November and December (until about December 20), and again in February-May. Strawberries are often in short supply in January.

Flavour is a very important factor when choosing our varieties. However we also seek out those that have resistance, or tolerance, to pests and diseases.

This allows us to avoid the use of pesticides, keeping in mind that we use a biofumigant brassica crop before planting to help suppress diseases that would attack strawberry roots, and we use an insect attacking nematode (eelworm) to keep the population of black vine weevil in check. Black vine weevils mainly attack the roots.

This year we were forced to import some runners from Victoria because our local runner grower was impacted by drought.

The list of main varieties with short comments is as follows:

Day Neutral Types

Alinta
It is very high yielding and shows no particular susceptibility to pests, and leaf or fruit diseases. Fruit are orange red in colour, large and very glossy resulting in highly attractive fruit with excellent aroma (definitely our best). Its only obvious fault is the amount of foliage it produces which would slow down the picking rate. This excess foliage would be an advantage to some growers because it should reduce the amount of bird damage and sunburn.

Amaros
A bright red fruit with very good flavour and high yields. Produces an excellent spring and autumn crops. Reasonable resistance to two spotted mites plus tolerance to powdery mildew and phytophthora.

Juliette
Juliette fruit are large, frequently exceeding 40 grams in size during spring. The skin is bright red in colour and glossy resulting in very attractive fruit. This appearance is maintained throughout the fruiting season.

It has also shown useful levels of rain resistance, a very tough skin and is not susceptible to Powdery Mildew under field conditions. The fruit are juicy and sweet with an excellent flavour if the fruit are allowed to ripen sufficiently before picking.

Kalinda
Fruit are large and conical shaped. Skin is bright red, firm red flesh and moderately glossy, resulting in attractive fruit, with the appearance being maintained throughout the season. It has shown strong resistance to Powdery Mildew, root and crown diseases, also good resistance to rain damage and Two Spotted Mites.

Seascape
It produces large berries with excellent flavor, over a long season, fruiting is concentrated in late spring with high yields into the autumn. This variety has good disease resistance. The fruit is red right through which also makes it a good processing berry.

Short Day Types

Adina
Fruit are exceptionally large, conic to wedge shaped.. Skin is bright red and moderately glossy with the appearance being maintained throughout the season. The flesh is medium red, low in acidity and high in aroma. Fruit is moderately resistant to rain damage.

Cal Giant 3
A mid to late variety with a single series of spring crops. High levels of resistance to a wide range of diseases are claimed. Fruit are very attractive, red, highly glossy, conical, large sized, firm and resilient. Flesh is bright red, of good flavour.

Camarosa
It produces a spring, but no autumn crop, of large bright, firm and flavoursome fruit with a good sheen. It is red inside and stores well so it can be picked with full red colour and still retains shelf life. Reasonable resistance to two spotted mites plus tolerance to powdery mildew.

To give the buds the best chance we also need good winter rains and these have been well above average.

We already have small peach fruitlets and even some early strawberries growing well.

Providing we are free of major frosts for the rest of spring, we expect to have some strawberries to pick early in October.

So at the opening on October 3 for our Cherry Blossom Festival we should have one of the most spectacular displays ever of cherry blossom, and a few strawberries to pick. We shall also have our latest batch of delicious fruit liqueurs for tasting.

Sorell Fruit Farm’s Cherry Blossom Festival is on again from October 3 to 10.

The public are invited to stroll amongst the thousand or so glorious cherry trees in their magnificent cascade of blossom. There is no charge for this.

What is more it marks the opening for the new fruit year of Sorell Fruit Farm, so the restaurant is open with special cherry-based snacks and meals, in addition to our excellent Devonshire teas.

The gift shop features a wide range of our own jams, wines and liqueurs, plus lots more, and we offer free tastings.

A visit at this time of year will truly lift your heart. In fact there is nothing to compare with the sounds, sights and smells of an orchard in spring.

Credits: Top: Sorell Fruit Farm. Above: Ron Co.

In summary
October, March, April and mid May 10am-4pm

November, December, January and February 8.30am-5pm

Adina (Short day variety)
Fruit are exceptionally large, conic to wedge shaped, frequently producing fruit exceeding 60g in size during spring and early summer. Skin is bright red and moderately glossy with the appearance being maintained throughout the season. The flesh is medium red, low in acidity and high in aroma. Plants of Adina are productive, with a flat globose plant habit, are quite open and moderately vigorous.

Cal Giant 3 (Short day variety)
A mid to late season variety . High levels of resistance to a wide range of diseases are claimed. Fruit are very attractive, red, highly glossy, conical, large sized (20+ g), firm and resilient. Flesh is bright red, of good flavour. Fruit are well displayed, and easily harvested, but may suffer from some rain damage and have a tendency to ripen from tips. This variety is becoming popular in the southern states, with a late April early May planting.

Lowanna (Day neutral)
Plants are highly productive. Fruit is uniformly red in colour, large and very glossy. Flesh is light red throughout.

Kalinda (Day neutral variety)
Fruit are large, conical shaped, frequently producing fruit exceeding 35g in size during spring. Skin is bright red and moderately glossy, resulting in attractive fruit, with the appearance being maintained throughout the season. There is little variation in shape between primary, secondary and tertiary fruits.

Kalinda proved to be highly productive in Victorian and South Australian grower trials, often exceeding 7 punnets per plant with a pack out exceeding 85%. It has shown strong resistance to Powdery Mildew, root and crown diseases, also good resistance to rain damage and Two Spotted Mites. Kalinda is expected to compete well with other day neutral varieties due to its firm red flesh, good handling properties and juicy fruit.

Seascape (Day Neutral)
In cooler areas it produces large berries with excellent flavor, over a long season, fruiting is concentrated in late spring with high yields into the autumn. Each cluster produces one extra-large berry (called the king berry). This variety has good disease resistance. The fruit is red right through which also makes it a good processing berry.

Alinta (Day Neutral)
Alinta will be of considerable interest due to its day neutral characteristic, large attractive firm fruit and its maintenance of this quality throughout the fruiting season.

It performs well from either a summer or winter planting, It is very high yielding and shows no particular susceptibility to pests, and leaf or fruit diseases. In Victorian trials, Fruit are orange red in colour, large and very glossy resulting in highly attractive fruit which is maintained well throughout the fruiting season.

Its only obvious fault is the amount of foliage it produces which would slow down the picking rate. This excess foliage would be an advantage to some growers because it should reduce the amount of bird damage and sunburn.

Euroka (Day Neutral)
It has good colour and flavour, is reasonably firm and has a long cropping season.

Here’s a link to the full spread.

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