On September 18th, Josh and I (along with two others) made the trip to Childers once again. We arrived into Brisbane late Thursday night and stayed in a surprisingly nice airport motel. We were SO excited to get back to the farm and to show off our new adventure.
We still didn't officially own the property at this stage, but to us, it was already ours.
In our minds, the plan was to roll up to the farm, be greeted with open arms by the former owner, do a bit of work and enjoy our new tropical paradise. The reality was a little different.
When we arrived, we were met by Bill and Jeff - the owner and his offsider. It was immediately apparent that we were not what they were expecting. After an awkward chat it was firmly established (at least in my mind) that we were seen as two young city slickers with absolutely no chance of being able to pull this off.
Slightly perturbed, we pushed on anyway.
Feeling as though we were being 'tested', we were sent off in the rusty ute - armed with the generator and a chainsaw - to prune the avocado trees. Our instructions were to 'try and get the big one in the middle, and any big ones that are over hanging'. Josh got stuck right in, tearing through the trees chopping through any offending branch. I dodged the falling limbs and dragged them out of the way to let the ute keep driving through. While we had no idea what we were doing, we were proving a point - we can do this.
The next day, Bill and Jeff had softened a little. Maybe these kids aren't so bad. Bill sent Josh out in the rusty ute for some more pruning, and kept me back in the shed.
"Do you reckon you can do this, love?"
"Yeah. I dunno. I think we can. It's going to be tough, but we want this."
"I can see that. Now, get in."
We jumped in his car and he took me on a guided tour of the farm. He hooned up and down the rows of trees, stopping whenever he thought there was something I needed to see.
"Smell this" he said, sticking his arm out the window and grabbing a handful of leaves, "what is it?"
"Mmm, it smells like liquorice!"
"Good! Now, what do you use it for?"
"Flavouring things...?"
"Good! That's an aniseed myrtle tree. You use the oils in the leaves to flavour the liqueurs."
"Crush those berries in your hand."
"Oh! Eww!" I has stained bright red from these tiny innocent looking berries. "What do you use these for!?"
"Nothin'. But I like tricking people with them."
"Taste that."
"What is it first?"
"Taste it and you tell me."
"Hmm. It's kind of like a sour orange."
"Good. That's a kumquat. Use it to make marmalade."
We spent the next hour driving from tree to tree, and Bill told me everything I needed to know. I learned about the little caterpillars that attack the Ice Cream Bean trees, why the Sea Grape tree doesn't fruit, how much frangelico you need to add to the Black Sapote fruit to make a boozy dessert and how much to pay the backpackers to pick the Finger Limes. I definitely got the better deal that morning, while Josh was stuck in the field pruning.
It's funny how first impressions can change. After just four days, we'd gone from dumb kids to fruit farmers. Bill has taken us under his wing and has generously shared his extensive knowledge with us.
I'm truly grateful for the head start he's given us on this adventure.
Josh taming the wild avocado trees
Bill - the farming expert and great story-teller
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