Elizabeth Burns
Biodynamic Blueberries:
Growing blueberries Biodynamically in Victorias Central Highlands I am a 5th generation Central Highlands farmer Victoria. My Cornish ancestors (Trewhellas) were berry farmers who bought raspberries with them in the 1850’s. They dug enough gold at Blackwood to buy their farm, famous for their berries and fruit until about 100 years ago, when my grandfather’s generation discovered there was a demand for their land clearing inventions. So for the past 100 years the Trewhella name was more associated with the Jack rather than berries. My dream has always been to return the Trewhella name as prime berry growers. So, it was an honour to be awarded a National ‘Delicious Produce’ gold medal this year.
Podolinsky on my return to Australia, it was not until the 1990’s that I started experimenting with his teachings.
I studied Agricultural Science at Melbourne University in the 1970’s. However, the application of this training to food production left me concerned about the impact on our soil, environment and human health. A traineeship in Denmark opened my eyes to a gentler, more sustainable form of food production that was reinforced by my travels through Europe and South America.
If fruit and vegetables tasted better and kept better, there would be much less food sent to landfill and a healthier population. However, if everyone decided to eat the recommended intake of fruit and vegetables, we would have to import 90% as our capacity to meet the dietary guidelines from our own production systems would not cope.
I first discovered Biodynamics at an Aid project in Ecuador. It was most appealing for its sustainability and did not involve purchasing inputs or seeds. While I looked up Alex
Despite a brief stint with the National Parks Service and as the Blueberry Industry Development Officer, most of my professional life was as a Community Health Dietitian, educating consumers about their food and developing Community Gardens. I farmed in my spare time. Raised on home grown (organic by default) food, I became increasingly concerned about the lack of flavour and keeping qualities in commercially produced food.
This is my journey in producing the best flavoured blueberries. My gold standard has been Moondarra. Having a loyal consumer base that seems addicted to our berries and willing to pay a
fair price, no matter what the rest of the industry is doing is more secure than being subjected to the free market price fluctuations/ Experiencing the extremes of environmental conditions over the last 11 years, has given me even more respect for the Australian Demeter Biodynamic method as developed by Alex Podolinsky. We have tools to deal with most situations. From drought, to flood, humid, hot or cold overcast summers, frosts and snow in late spring and last year potential flood conditions with 1500mm rain. It should be noted that these are merely observations from growing five of the oldest varieties (from Moondarra) on mature 30 year old roots at Musk in the Central Highlands of Victoria. The main varieties are Brigitte, Blue Rose and Denise from the early Knoxfield breeding program and Northland and Elliot from the USA. They were all planted in the early 1980’s by Shane Johnson and his partner Chris Wealthy who
Biodynamic Blueberries || Elizabeth Burns
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