How it all started
Blushing Blueberries is a newly established organic orchard near Macksville on the mid north coast of NSW.
My mother was a passionate gardener and grew most of the fruit and vegetables we ate as a family. We were always encouraged as children to help in the garden as well as look after our own little plots growing whatever vegetables we wanted. I believe a passion for gardening is one of the most rewarding things in life.
Before starting on this venture I was a Management Consultant in the city for 10 + years, spent a lot of time travelling, stressed and overworked. I moved to Northern NSW to retire (or so I thought). But the love of gardening took hold again and before I knew it I was enrolled at TAFE at Wollongbar to do some formal study in horticulture.
After moving to the mid north coast and continuing my horticultural studies at TAFE in Coffs Harbour I graduated with a Diploma of Horticulture (distinction) and also a Diploma of Organic Farming in 2015 and all that hard work paid off by recently being recognised by my peers. In November 2016 I won the Australian Institute of Horticulture’s Student of the Year Award.
What had started off as an academic exercise in growing blueberries grew into developing a real business opportunity. This has been a steep learning curve that has been and continues to be very challenging and has empowered me to stretch myself, gather and apply as much gained knowledge as possible.
I wanted to grow organically, using the best possible practices to improve the health of the soil, provide habitat for native animals, work in harmony with nature, be sustainable and produce the most nutrient dense, flavourful, delicious blueberries possible. Blushing Blueberries has been Certified Organic with Aus-Qual since 2015.
Just under 1,000 plants were planted in 2015 that are still maturing. Blueberries typically reach full production in around 5 - 6 years, however, fruit is often harvested after 1 year. We chose to hold our plants back from early fruiting to build up the carbohydrate levels and that will help to make them stronger, healthier plants going forward and we expect to harvest our first crop in autumn 2017.
In the meantime we are developing a range of quite unusual, dare we say unique, range of Blueberry products with only the freshest quality blueberries that we source from other local growers.
We hope you enjoy our range of products as much as we enjoy bringing them to you.
Bon appétit!
