All Trevor and Melissa Vanin want is for visitors to Fielderberry Farm to enjoy the fruits of their labour – both now, and well into the future.
They’ve lived on their Fielder Road property for more than 20 years, and it’s one of the most visible to passing traffic anywhere from Gembrook to Cockatoo.
In fact, it’s in such a prime position on one of the busiest roads in the hills that it’s all-too-often taken for granted by local residents and visiting tourists alike.
Not any more – so the Vanins hope.
Though they’re long-time residents of Fielder – between Gembrook and Cockatoo – it’s only in recent years that the husband and wife team has transformed part of their 70-plus acre property into a ‘U-Pick’ berry farm.
Though it’s a new venture, and on a smaller scale, Trevor and Melissa have huge ideas for its future.
The berry farm – which features a wide variety of blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries – can be easily seen from the corner of Fielder and Belgrave-Gembrook roads and is just over the road from the Fielder’s Puffing Billy Railway station.
Those who’ve kept more than a passing eye on the property over recent years would have noted the progress of the berry farm, in particular — its most visible aspect from Belgrave-Gembrook Road, and what Trevor and Melissa are working on tirelessly.
The berry farm has become particularly productive in recent years — specifically when it comes to the blackberries. In fact, it’s not uncommon in recent weeks for the Vanins to have picked a staggering 135 kilos of blackberries.
They’ve got the fruit – what they need is people to come and pick them.
Trevor and Melissa are incorporating sustainable farming practices – providing long-term benefits to both their land, and the surrounding community.
The house on the property is well over 100 years old, while the vast majority of the 72-acre parcel of land is natural bush.
Trevor recently explained the exciting plans for the future of the property – which include both a bed-and-breakfast, and a restaurant that is expected to seat about 60 patrons.
The farm’s large carpark and entrance gates – which can be clearly seen from Belgrave-Gembrook Road – will soon lead directly to the restaurant which will be nestled spectacularly among the plants and vines.
Currently, a stunning gazebo takes pride of place in the centre of the u-pick operation to provide shelter to visitors, and a place to kick back, relax, and take in the environment.
Trevor and Melissa are working on a gypsy van-type caravan that will complement the gazebo superbly and could provide cold treats to younger visiting pickers.
The neighbouring restaurant will be tailored more towards the adult market, but Fielderberry’s is truly an experience for the whole family to take in.
Trevor and Melissa hope to have both their licensed restaurant and their bed and breakfast up and running by 2019, and are working day and night to make that a reality.
The bike and walking trail that will be constructed between Gembrook and Cockatoo will run right up Fielder Road, and Trevor and Melissa hope to make the most of the added passing traffic.
“There are a lot of things happening in our favour – we’ve just got to get it all going,” Trevor said.
“We do have quite a few people come here – well over 100 people have come already this year. The season will go, we think, until the end of March but it’s going to be different fruit at different times.”
Fielderberry is home to multiple different types of blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries in addition to lemons, Tahitian limes, and sunshine limes.
Trevor and Melissa have accomplished a staggering amount in just four years of the berry farm, which for more than 15 years prior to that was simply rolling green paddocks.
“They were the drought years, so you couldn’t plant anything because it wouldn’t grow,” Trevor explained.
“For the first five years that we were here it was just so wet – it was raining all the time. For the next 10 years, pretty much, was the drought and when that broke that’s when we did this – that’s when we had our chance.”
They started by planting just one row of fruit, which then expanded to eight, then 15, then 25, and now there’s 50 with irrigation running through the lot of them.
In just two and a half hours, they can have 30,000 litres of bore water on their plants.
“It’s surprising – not many people realise just what’s involved,” Trevor said.
“We planted that first row in 2012. It’s almost five years since we actually started.
“That was with no irrigation, no posts, nothing.”
But from little things, big things really do grow.
The Vanins are enormously proud of their fruit, and are confident that its quality speaks for itself.
“The same customers keep coming back,” Trevor said.
“There’s one lady who was the first person here on the day we opened, and she was the first person here this season as well.
“She was waiting because she knows what’s here.
“The same customers keep coming back. There’s another couple from Gembrook and I think they’ve been about five times this year already.”
Trevor acknowledged that, perhaps, passing motorists would miss the property – despite the fact that its right in plain sight backing on to a stretch of 80 kilometre per hour road.
“They’re looking at what’s happening but they often don’t actually come in here,” he said.
“We haven’t got a lot of signage so we’re working on that now.”
Trevor was a wood machinist by trade and learned much of what he knows of the horticulture game from his father – a keen gardener – and from a trade certificate he completed some years ago.
While the Vanins are developing their raspberries and blueberries, their blackberries are going gangbusters.
“There’s just too much fruit,” Trevor said.
“More than 100 people have already picked fruit off here and you can’t even tell. It’s amazing, and every person picks a kilo of it.”
Fielderberry’s operating hours are published on its Facebook page, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the most part reserved for work around the property.
There’s no limit to how much fruit visitors can pick. The raspberries sell for $16 per kilo, blackberries for $18, and blueberries for $25.
“One of the reasons we chose to do this was because we thought about strawberries, we thought about a vineyard, and about all the different options like olives or even a lavender farm, but everything here is at head height – the fruit is in front of you; it’s wheelchair accessible; and we’re not down on our hands and knees picking,” Trevor said.
“It’s one of those things that we thought about that would be practical, and I think it also really does suit the area. We’re in a valley so the fruit gets quite a lot of heat, which they like, and our rainfall is good as well.”
The Vanins have built their farm – now they just need the visitors to come.
“The blackberries are going really well, but I think they’ve got a bit of a bad name because of the prickly varieties,” Trevor said.
“We’ve just got to get it out there how good these ones are.
“We hardly use any chemicals here at all. I do spray the weeds, but there’s no chemicals or pesticides or anything like that – no way.
“We eat the fruit without washing them. That’s it. What you’re picking is what you eat. We’ve also had people from Landcare around here and they suggested to us to plant a few indigenous foods, so we’ve got a few of those in too.”
In the years to come, the Vanins want to make use of their whole property – including walks through the bush.
It sounds like the perfect exercise to walk off the delicious pancakes and crepes that will be sold at the restaurant.
Trevor and Melissa are constantly researching and talking with fellow farmers and industry professionals – helping them monitor their own progress and leading to future improvements.
Likeminded family, friends, and local residents work alongside them at Fielderberry Farm and they share their work ethic and passion for sustainable farming.
They’re all bringing a remarkable vision to life – all they need is visitors.
For more information call 0409 846 419, visit www.fielderberryfarm.com or search for ‘Fielderberry Farm’ on Facebook.
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