Record crowds have turned out to pick fruit at berry farms throughout the North East this season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
High Grove Chestnut and Berry Farm owner Tony Iaria said he had never seen so many pickers in the near-decade he had owned the Stanley property.
Mr Iaria said he had a record-breaking crowd on December 23.
“We never expected so many people; we had a minimum of 400 people through yesterday,” he said.
“There were a lot of repeat customers. Some people have been coming here 30 years and those people are now bringing their kids back.”
Mr Iaria said the berry season was about 10 days earlier this year due to the mild winter and warmer spring conditions.
High Grove usually opens for berry-picking on December 13-15 but this year opened on December 5.
“We’ve had no weather damage this season, we’ve been lucky,” he said.
“We’ve never seen blueberries the size we’ve seen this year.”
A range of berries are grown in the sub-alpine Stanley climate including raspberries, blackberries (American brambleberries), blueberries, thornless blackberries, boysenberries, blackcurrants, cherries, redcurrants and waldoberries.
Mr Iaria attributed the rise in the number of pickers largely to their Facebook following.
“The increase has been happening over the last two to three years,” he said.
“Facebook reaches a lot of people and we advertise in The Border Mail during the peak season too.
“A lot of people weren’t aware we were here and offering the berry-picking until the past couple of years.”
Apart from the pick-your-own berries and cherries operation, High Grove is the second largest chestnut producer in the region.
Highgrove Chestnut and Berry Farm is located on the Mount Stanley Road, Stanley.
It is open every day (excluding Christmas Day and New Year’s Day) between 8.30am and 5pm until the season ends between January 20 and 26.
