Tree Register Bears Fruit
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday October 21, 2008
Bakers and bottlers wanting to use locally grown fruits have picked a good time, writes Carli Ratcliff.
FOR a person committed to the philosophy of "slow", Anne Elliott is an extremely busy woman.Convener of Slow Food Blue Mountains, she was the catalyst for having the area classified Citta Slow (Slow City) by Slow Food Italy this year. In overseeing the group's projects, Elliott established the Blue Mountains fruit tree register. The program identifies important trees and the register can be accessed by bakers and bottlers wanting to use the fruits. The idea came when the local council was compiling a noxious-weeds register. With map in hand, Elliott began searching for fruit trees. Suddenly, people began emailing her about a tree in their yard, or one they had spotted in a park or beside the railway line.Encompassing an area from Penrith to Lithgow, the register includes renowned regional fruits, particularly apples. Heirloom apple trees planted in the 1920s at Woodford are listed, as are 67 varieties of apple, including the 15th-century French doux amer gris, grown in Katoomba's community gardens. Single trees also rate a mention in the register, such as a crab apple and a quince in a backyard at Hazelbrook and a roadside apricot tree on the way to Lithgow.The register recently expanded to include nuts.A 50-year-old chestnut grove at Mt Irvine is noted. Chestnuts also grow in Katoomba's community gardens. In 1995, locals planted a "food forest" on a 2.6-hectare plot given by the council. Permaculturist Supapon Raffan has tended the gardens since their inception. "We have always encouraged sharing and being on the fruit register helps create an awareness of older and threatened varieties," she says. The register documents the location and age of trees, the fruit varietal and an indication of picking season. The tree owner's details also appear so would-be bakers and bottlers can easily make contact."The idea is to share or barter," Elliott says. "Absolutely no money changes hands. The register is inspired by the notion of exchange, not just of fruit but of knowledge and skills also."Volunteers happy to pick fruit and prune trees for the elderly have added their names, as have people keen to run jam and preserve-making workshops.Next year, Elliott will conduct classes in bottling, using Fowlers Vacola jars."Slow Food is about tradition. It's important for us to encourage and facilitate these older methods of cooking," she says."They are part of Australian heritage."Blue Mountains Fruit and Nut Networkconvener is Anitra Nelson. Phone 4782 9003 or see katoombachamber.com. Katoomba Community Gardens, Harold Hodgson Reserve, corner Victoria and Fitzgerald streets, North Katoomba
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald