Who: The Riseborough family, CherryHill Orchards
Where: Yarra Valley, Yarra Ranges Shire, Wurundjeri Country
Here’s Phoebe Morley, the marketing manager at CherryHill Orchards.
Phoebe Morley, tell us about what you do at CherryHill?
I’m the marketing manager. I’m involved with all the delicious activities at CherryHill. It’s one of the few cherry businesses focused purely on growing 100 per cent sweet cherries. We grow more than 30 varieties across the season. Once ripe, cherry trees don’t hold their fruit for long, so we need to grow lots of different varieties to get a lovely, long growing season from early November to early January.
You really celebrate every aspect of the season.
Cherry-blossom festivals in Japan revere the ephemeral nature of the blossom and life. Each year, thousands of people come to see the trees covered in beautiful pink petals and the ground carpeted underneath. Blossom season runs from mid-September to early October. We run Blossom by Night at our Wandin East orchard where the trees are lit in the most beautiful colours. We also have a special pre-booked picking session for the start of the season in November.
How do the pick-your-own sessions work?
People buy a ticket for a two-hour window, and visitors wander around the ripe cherries, eating as much as they like and picking their own to take home. We weigh how much they have picked and charge them for that. It’s really fun, with music, food trucks, and a large picnic area. We do a range of cherry drinks, jams, chutneys, and even a cherry vodka that we sell at the farm gate.
You also wholesale?
During the season, you will see CherryHill cherries at IGA, Costco, Coles, Woolworths, and independent grocers.
Where do we find the farm?
We are at Coldstream and Wandin East. Visit cherryhill.com.au for opening hours.