FROM TREE - She’ll be apples

The Mock family have always been innovators. Back in the 1960s, orchardists Wally and Wilma Mock left their East Burwood orchard as suburbia consumed their fertile apple farm. Their forebears had been growing apples since 1895. The couple bought a small orchard at Red Hill – just 8ha – and continued to grow apples and raise a family. Then the two met a man called Alex Podolinsky, a proud Russian with knowledge of the regenerative but esoteric farming method called biodynamics.

Unsure of the practices that eschew chemicals for natural pest control and fertiliser, Wally wandered over to a neighbouring orchard. "There, on the fence line, was an old apple tree that never got sprayed, never got fertilised, but was way healthier and had better, tastier apples than all the other trees in the orchard," recounts his granddaughter Sheryn Mock. "That was 1974, and we were one of the first biodynamic apple growers in the state.” Nearly 50 years on, Sheryn and her sisters Mardi-Claire and Demeter continue the family tradition of growing delicious apples, pears, cherries and a few avocados in the deep fertile soil. Without chemicals. Without artificial fertiliser.

They sell their produce from their farmgate in the converted cool store built in the 1940s. Boxes of apples line the shelves. The apples are not glossy red and jewel-perfect. Instead, they are deeply aromatic and intensely flavoured. These are what apples should taste like. The Mock girls' dad Neville opened the farmgate – one of the first on the Peninsula – in 1995. In 2003 the Mocks started experimenting with cider. Their first venture in apple alcohol was a Basque-style cider. Lean, still, and slightly acidic. Perfect with grilled lamb as they enjoy it in the hills above San Sebastian. But it did not please the Australian crowds. They changed their recipes to a more modern Australian style. Their Classic Cider is a strong, full-flavoured cider to please aficionados, while the Sweet Cider is a knockout with the younger crowd. The ciders are on-pour and ready for tasting at the farmgate. The Mocks also produce apple and pear juice and an exceptionally good apple cider vinegar, made in a large oak vat using natural yeasts and vinegar mother to produce beautiful, complex cooking and finishing vinegar.

The Mock Red Hill farmgate also offers farm tours and glorious orchard picnics with fold-out chairs, umbrella and picnic basket packed with delicious food. With notice, the Mocks can also organise live musicians and flowers – just in case you were planning a special occasion. The kitchen offers a compact but tasty range of dishes, from yoghurt dip and pita bread to duck rillettes with sour cherry and baguette, mozzarella and tomato, brie, blue cheese, and hot apple pie and ice-cream. "We are a family business," says Sheryn. "We want people to come and try and buy our produce and learn a little about what we do here on the farm. We are a real working farm supporting not only our family but our staff as well. The Mock family has been feeding people for a long time, and hopefully for a long time to come."

RICHARD CORNISH

MOCK RED HILL 1103 Mornington-Flinders Rd, Red Hill mockredhill.com.au