Up a Gum Tree

I choose another early flight to give me an extra full day in Adelaide. By mid morning I am in the Adelaide hills visiting Kym Green with Greg Horner who owns a vineyard locally and I had met in Queensland.

This is my one and only trip to a real apple orchard in Australia. I deliberately chose to look at areas of interest in all walks of agriculture so that I didn’t become distracted by apple specific issues. Kym’s operation comes highly recommended by Australian scholars and has been frequently visited by uk scholars too.

We have a crash course in biodynamics, a subject that I understand was much debated at last Years conference. We were interrupted at one point by a guttural chundering noise, the sound of a koala who is staring down upon us from a gum tree, a stereotypical Australian scene.

Kym grows apples and cherries in a unique and impressive manner however like many Australian farmers that I spoke to, he appears to have fallen on tough financial times with increasing costs and poor weather over the past few Years. Wednesday night is the traditional meeting time for the local religious cult (Adelaide’s version of the Amish) and Kym host’s a regular alternative gathering for non believer’s! I am kindly invited to join them and we have a great time chewing the fat and catching up on local gossip.