Trial Bay Orchards, TAS
eter Coombridge ‐ Second generation owner
Wanting to drive a tractor 'just like dad' is all part of growing up on a farm. And one of the reasons Peter Coombridge always wanted to continue what his father began at Trial Bay Orchards, overlooking the beautiful D'Entrecasteax Channel in Kettering, around 35km south of Hobart in Tasmania.
The family have run the property since 1955 ‐ when Garey Coombridge bought that first orchard from his then boss. They grew apples back then, and continue to do so now.
"...we had a pretty good life growing up on the farm and I loved going with my father to work in the orchard when I could, it brings back a lot of good memories." ‐ Peter Coombridge
As the business developed from purely growing into one that also packed, stored and marketed their produce, around 1980 Peter made the transition from being brought up on the land, to working full-time on it. There was plenty to learn as so much was happening.
Trial Bay's customer base was growing. They had begun their on-going relationship with Woolworths by supplying apples to Purity in Southern Tasmania and Roelf Voss in Northern Tasmania, (both of which would eventually become Woolworths stores). And by 1987 were exporting under their own name.
So Peter's early farming education was fast-paced, on the job and from his father. Not that Garey was always the best teacher:
"Dad once saw a snake at one of the dams and he decided he was going to kill it by burning it.
This was during summer and a total fire ban. Well, he used petrol to help start the fire (as you do), and the result was he burned through grass, a small section of orchard, a couple of acres of bush and the local fire brigade were called to put the fire out.
Of course, it was all for nothing as the snake was seen slithering away from harm!" ‐ Peter Coombridge
Episodes like that aside, Peter continued to learn quickly and as he did, his passion for farming grew. He loves the culmination of all of the complexities, challenges and the various elements of orcharding, storing and packing. Bringing them all together to have a high quality apple that'll someone will love eating.
Though it's more than just one apple. Today Peter and son Gavin grow and sell Golden Delicious, Royal Gala, Fuji, Red Delicious, Pink Lady, Sundowner, Granny Smith to Tasmanian, mainland and export markets.
Not that having good customers makes the farming side of things easier. Recent hot, dry summers have pushed the orchards' water reserves to the limit ‐ so much so that in 2012 and 2013 they came close to running out for the first time in over 60 years.
Even when there are challenges, Peter tries to find time for his other love. An avid aviation enthusiast, he holds a commercial pilot's licence and gets in the air whenever he can. If he wasn't farming, he says he'd be a commercial pilot. And when he isn't able to fly the full-sized ones, he's building and flying radio-controlled models.
Full-sized or model, once Peter's landed it's back to growing ‐ a combination of hard work and patience. A newly-planted tree takes three to five years to reach commercial production, and it's a full year between harvests. From pruning, the buds grow, turning into blossoms and then fruitlets.
The apples then continue to increase in size to be harvested on reaching the right maturity based on sugar content, starch and pip colour, size and appearance.
Following sorting, packing and distributing, the apples are on the shelves. From there, Peter advises you choose vibrant-looking ones with no bruising or obvious damage and store them in the fridge. And when it comes to eating (or drinking) them, there's plenty you can do ‐ sweet or savoury.
It's even the perfect addition to pumpkin soup.