Rare fruits bring a community of gardeners together

In South Australia, we’re lucky to have a group of locals who are dedicated to the preservation of fruits that are rare, unusual and (almost) forgotten.

It all began back in 1976 when a bunch of backyard fruit growers and gardening enthusiasts banded together to learn about rare subtropicals, heritage varieties, and the other uncommonly grown fruits. Narrowly escaping being dubbed ‘The Avocado Society’, the Rare Fruit Society of South Australia was formed at a time when it wasn’t fashionable to grow fruit, when pineapples came exclusively in cans and ‘smashed avo’ wasn’t a mainstay on brunch menus in hipster cafés. Almost 50 years later, this community group has 600 members and has successfully built a vast repository of fruit growing information and resources to share with members and the public.

Custodians of fruit heritage

The current society president, Brenton Kortman, lives in the Adelaide Hills where the cooler climate and crisp winter frosts mean that it has been the epicentre of South Australia’s apple orcharding for the past 120 years. Brenton is the safe keeper of over 150 heritage variety apples at his home. His passion for these heirloom cultivars extends beyond his orchard gates, as he guides the society to do what it does best – help other gardeners grow and care for heritage fruits that have disappeared from garden centres, orchards, backyards and memory.

The society meets bi-monthly, bringing together newbies, experts, curious gardeners and social butterflies. Like most gardeners, these society members can’t help but share stories and cuttings. Whether you’re an experienced grower or starting out and looking to plant a few trees at home, you’ll find someone to connect with and something to learn.

Grafting nights are where all the fun is had, when members and the public are welcome to come together to trade and buy exciting varieties like Scarlet Non-pareil or Yarlington Mill apples, pick up rootstock and scion, and with some tuition from a knowledgeable member, you’ll be ready to grow! In between these meetings, the society is focused on education, tastings, specialist workshops, citrus and espalier masterclasses, and tours to South Aussie gems like Carrick Hill (the only publicly accessible heritage apple and pear orchard in Adelaide).

Precious collections

Over the years, the society has maintained collections of rare fruits to preserve and protect our heritage varieties. These orchards have undergone several incarnations in a number of different locations over the years. These have recently been consolidated by the society into three vital safe havens for rare and wonderful fruits.

The group has recently leased a former member’s property as a southern educational hub – a testament to how you can grow diversity in your backyard. Planting at the Adelaide Botanic Garden commenced last year, and now you can find rare subtropicals such as jujubes, Buddha’s hand citron, purple sugar cane, guava sp., citrus yuzu and passionfruit lilikoi to learn what grows well in Adelaide’s Mediterranean climate. While you’re at the botanic gardens, you’ll want to stop by the Diggers garden shop of course, and you might also like to pop into the Museum of Economic Botany to see the world’s largest collection of historical papier-mâché replicas of heritage fruits, fungi, and plants of value.

The most impressive collection is found in a typically not-so-productive area of SA, Kanmantoo, about an hour’s drive out of Adelaide. With their partnership with Neutrog Fertilisers, the society grows on alluvial soil, away from any other fruit trees and the risk of diseases that commonly ails fruit trees growing in orchards. At this site, over 600 varieties of fruit trees are grown – one of the biggest collections in the world and, most likely, the largest in the southern hemisphere. Most states in Australia once had similarly abundant arboretums, but over time many have been sold or bulldozed.

Fruit keepers

The concept of rarity is no longer exclusive to the likes of avocado, golden fruit of the Andes and magenta dragon fruit. Today, common fruits like the humble apple, pear, and plum are dwindling in numbers as we tragically lose diversity in our orchards, backyards and fruit bowls. It wasn’t so long ago that Australia had over 2,000 varieties of apples. Now, we can count the number of apple options in our supermarkets on one hand. We’ve lost the culinary experience of diversity and the enjoyment of trying something different for its colour, flavour, texture and curiosity. In favour of convenience, we have lost connection with a long lineage of varieties that have been bred over generations, adapting to our unique bioregions and building resilience. Rare fruits bring a community of gardeners togetherThe Rare Fruit Society of South Australia is doing great work preserving and sharing knowledge.Alex Miller Passionate community gardener, seed saver and permaculture enthusiast.

Unless they have commercial value, rare and heritage fruits are often not invested in for plant development programs and are difficult to bring into Australia because of necessary biosecurity laws. Thankfully, society members often venture into abandoned farmhouses and threatened orchards to uncover, identify and propagate lost varieties in order to protect our future diversity.

We can all play a role in saving varieties for future generations by choosing less common options for our own backyards. Next time you’re planning what to plant in your garden, consider a heritage variety and grow a little history to help build resilience for the future.

*Top image: Buddah's hand citron, an unusal citrus variety featured in RFSA's arboreta collection.

Volunteers labelling and weeding a heritage fruit collection. 

Society members learning abut apple fruit tree training methods.