US links

Alberto, the Italian walnut expert, when he visited him at his farm, spoke of going to California as ‘ visiting the home of the wolf ‘. Californian walnut production dwarfs all other’s. Yet, we have always found California walnut farmers and manufacturers most helpful and welcoming. We visited California in 2012. From the start, even at the airport, the car-rental front-desk salesman upgraded us to a larger car at no extra cost when he learned we were heading for Yosemite. We visited the Florey plant at Salida and met Al. He took us to meet another Al who ran over 300 acres of walnuts nearby. We toured his orchard, production plant and museum of intriguing collectibles.

California resembles Australia in topography, climate and vegetation. Gums made it across the Pacific with the traffic between our two nations in the goldrush days of the 1850s.

When we returned to Oz we ordered a sweeper and harvester from Al. We have used them for two harvests.

On twitter we met @nutfarmerJake who has provided us with advice from time to time. Jake responded to my tweet yesterday regarding purchasing a sizer from the North Dakota manufacturer. I am sure my wife is presently sending the deposit via our bank.

The Weiss McNair general manager has stayed at our place and I have taken him on a tour of local walnut farms. He was most generous with this time and information.

The walnut farm three kms from us is owned by a man whose father was a US pilot. He spent many years on walnut ranches.

There are many, many links between the US and Oz walnut growers, processors and manufacturers. These links will grow.

 

Moonlighting

Walnut trees take up to ten years to pay their way. You can’t put food on the table during that time without alternative employment. My wife and I have worked. For me, its three days in town but it is not unrelated to farming.

Walking to buy lunch I bumped into the niece of the man who first took our walnuts to the Melbourne market, somewhat reluctantly at first, until the first night. She had worked for us prior to taking maternity leave. Her father grows the grapes our grandfatherly walnut mentor uses to lay down his reds to have with his to-be-believed salami.

‘Do you miss me every day?” she asked.

“Every minute of every day.”

Off to buy the newspaper and dream of purchasing the farms for sale, buying up the clearance sales and the advertised machinery, to sit in the park to eat lunch. I watch the passing traffic, the stock trucks from market; and those with fruit bins full of peaches, apples, apricots and lemons. I observe which vehicles have been selected for each of their purposes- to carry stock, service, tradesman or family. There have been more European vans and utes on the roads this year. Why is that?

At work there is much to learn. I speak with farmers about the recent trend for Chinese buyers to pick up walnut farms, dairy and accommodation. We agree that they do not seem to have much knowledge or experience in this type of farming. I learn of Walnuts Australia developing over 300,000 hectares near Leeton and where to launch a boat on Lake Eilden to catch brown trout.

Dust to rain

Through winter, the dirt road to our farm has been wet by constant showers. I noticed last week that clouds of dust billow behind the car. The fine pale particles travel in the wind across gardens and fields to settle on the shelves and furniture of our neighbours. Our house is set back from the road. We do not get a dusting; only when a neighbour plows his fields. Sometimes the house disappears and the roof is covered in a fine film.

Dusty roads are a sign of winter passing and the beginning of the spring rush. Like the rumble from the 9 am locomotive on the railway tracks at our northern border, mother nature is palpably impatient to burst out of the winter chains. Grass is lush, buds are swelling, blossoms are about and birds are pairing. Willy-wag tails have just resumed residence in their nest in the climbing rose.

Fertigation feeds the new growth. But, one station in the orchard has profuse umbrella sedge in the tree-line. Feeding those trees through the irrigation system would only benefit the weeds. The sedge is too tall and prolific for herbicide. Today, I commenced whipper-snipping the twenty rows. If you walk to the left, a right handed person finds it easier to swing the spinning plastic string from side to side, biting deeply and quickly into the tangled mass of green stems. Juicy tit-bits fly into your face and mouth. You taste, feel, see and hear the cutting.

Meanwhile, as I mow the weeds, our neighbour Michael hills up the prunings that have accumulated into four separate mounds about the orchard, in readiness for burning. We need to get this done before the fire-bans come into force.

In the sheep race in the north paddock, Ruth has gathered the sheep. Brian, our shearer, has left his ewes and lambs with us for the last two month. They are keeping our main orchard clean. Today he is bringing sixty lambs from another property. The sixty odd lambs that have been here with their mothers will be weaned today. Tonight, they will bleat. That is, unless they go to market and bleat there. An agent is coming to choose. Those of the 120 lambs that do not go off will stay with us.

After I cut three rows, Michael hilled four bonfires and Ruth gathered the sheep, the rain commenced. On the radar the rainclouds extended to Swan Hill. Rain for three hours. So much for orchard work. The agent continued selecting his flock to go to market.

Interdependence

I was told yesterday that Walnuts Australia is developing 300,00 hectares, that’s 300,00, near it’s present orchard at Leeton. That is a massive investment in walnuts in Oz. I think they have made the correct decision. There is a huge future for walnuts in Australia. Like almonds. Just look at the present drought in California; and they are the northern hemisphere.

But; how should a small producer like ourselves respond to what some might perceive as a threat. Well, good luck to them. They operate on a very different business model. Others have their own too.

As I was slashing the orchard this afternoon I came to an understanding of our business model. I had to stop slashing as I noticed a ute on the road by the dam. I knew who was driving. My wife had arranged for Peter and Mick to come and prune the cherry trees in our home orchard. These two gentlemen from Italy and Ukraine have over fifty years of knowledge and experience in horticulture and dairy – tomatoes, stone fruit and milk. They are both retired but wander at large, getting involved in production and marketing. They are garrulous, joking buddies happy to share an anecdote and always on the lookout to provide advice or spot a bargain. Wine and salami have been their staple interest, but walnuts have crept into the agenda.

We now bring something to this table. With walnuts appearing on our trees in increasing volume we now have a voice at this locally based market.

Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to grow, process and market walnuts.

Birches walk

This descent, the steepest, on our billiard table farm, takes you from the entrance at the round-about to the dam.

The white bark is starkest in mid-winter set against the lush pasture. In summer, the beige leaves and dusty paddock mute.

Many have said the walk would perfectly suit a bridal party.

Rain

The strongest winds will not blow walnuts from the tree.

Rain at harvest time will open the hulls and drop the nuts to the ground.

The soft sodden earth prevents the sweeper and harvester from collecting the fallen booty.

Pelicans

For over 100 years, water has travelled more than 100 kilometres from Lake Eildon through rivers, reservoirs and channels under gravity to our farm. We built our dam ten years ago to hold the water needed to irrigate the orchard.

Our dam has attracted many birds: ducks, swans, coots, spoonbills and garnets. The pelican is most engaging. Lumbering low over the orchard in pairs they circle the dam before plunging into the muddy water. They circle the dam in the shallows like an iceberg ushering and cornering their prey.  Do they really swallow whole carp live?

My favourites are the pesky blue wrens and the chatty willy-wagtails that congregate in the hedges near the house. We watch them from the kitchen as they come to the backdoor, chirping and squeaking. Here, a bird-cage is bric-a-brac.

Casuarinas

As required by council, casuarinas line our northern boundary with the railway line, to reduce spray drift to the one goods train that passes each morning, our neighbours’ stock and our neighbours.

At leaf burst we spray copper weakly weekly for blight. Blight is a bacteria, like pseudomonas, that attacks when circumstances suit – warming, humid spring days. To date, we are winning.

For most of the year, Casuarinas have nothing to screen. In Spring, depending on the wind direction, they block. Luckily they require no care and do not impede tractors turning at the ends of rows. Horizontal lower tree lines show that sheep find them tasty.

Winter

With you in layers of wool and fleece, the trees stand bare. No need for in-situ sculptures with the walnut tree’s minimalist winter architecture.

The impact of pruning in the wind chill surfaces at night, in bed, unable to get warm; or is that the beginnings of the flu?

The trees are not asleep. Prune a limb and watch the fluid pour. Spring lurks, exerting subtle pressure. Pruning must be completed to enable the next stage in the cycle: preparation for fertigation.