Helen Taylor

BLUE OX BERRIES

Helen Taylor

There's something so sensuous - so plump and juicy - about the humble berry, it's not really surprising that Helen Taylor and Wayne Pegler found themselves on a berry farm when making their 'tree change' nine years ago. Tourists are also attracted in the carloads to their household farm gates, where fresh berries can be collected by the kilo and all sorts of homemade berry concoctions are sold - jams, preserves, sauces and chutneys.

'Even during the colder months, people stop here on their way through to the snowfields,' explains Helen. 'Frozen berries keep all the nutritional value of fresh berries so they are very popular, even when there are no fresh ones in the fields.'

Anyone who's read the news lately will have heard about the health benefits of berries. For example, according to an article in the West Australian newspaper recently, these fruits are packed with vitamins, particularly vitamin C, antioxidants and phytochemicals, as well as minerals frequently deficient in people's diets. Such positive publicity on behalf of berries has only made their broad appeal greater.

'We find there's a real awareness of berries these days because people have naturopaths and nutritionists who are introducing them into diets,' concurs Helen. 'Also the kids love them, which is a bonus for parents.'

While the berries are ripe from December through to March, Blue Ox Berries' farm is home to Helen, Wayne and their children, which means the business is unofficially open to the public right throughout the year. They also maintain a regular presence at the Farmers' Market in Wodonga every second Saturday, along with a number of local festivals held on the annual calendar.

Helen proudly confirms this year's crop is looking like a beauty - in fact, the best crop in years following some lean seasons in terms of rainfall. Anyone with a taste for raspberries, boysenberries and blackberries (their standard crops) should drop by Blue Ox Berries because, indisputably, they don't get any better than this.

Open daily in summer (open most days out of season)

77 Smith Street, Oxley, Victoria

Tel. 03 5727 3397