Netherhill Strawberry Farm with Lisa McAskill: In the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia

In a quiet paddock just out of Gumeracha the autumn sun, the soil and the crisp nights of the Adelaide Hills conspire to produce a taste sensation.

The public can't pick strawberries from the thirty acres scattered throughout Netherhill Strawberry Farm and ninety percent of the produce is bound for supermarket shelves in Brisbane. But if you make the trip to this idyllic part of the Kenton Valley you can buy direct and get a quick lesson in a plant that has long mystified horticulturists the world over.

“They are not a true fruit as we know them,” explained Doug Reid of Netherhill Strawberry Farm. “They're the only so-called fruit where the seed is on the outside rather than contained. As such they’re actually the swollen receptacle of the flower with the seed stuck on the outside. They're quite unique, quite peculiar.”

In fact this little compact concoction of vitamin "C" is more closely related to the rose than to any fruit. In the Adelaide Hills, the strawberry season extends from October through to May with each plant cropping continuously. That means there's more than enough for the busloads of tourists, who converge on the property daily to purchase their punnets, jams, toppings, strawberry flavoured icecreams. Australia doesn't have any native strawberries of its own. What we indulge in today is the cross-pollination of European and American varieties.

“There's an ongoing breeding program in a number of countries around the world. But they go way back to before Columbus' time. He took the wild strawberries… from the Americas back to the continent when he returned so they've been around for a long time.”

A quick tip for those wanting to grow strawberries at home. Doug says to get them in the ground between April and June if you want a crop before Christmas. He should know he and wife Margaret have been growing them for just over twenty years after converting Netherhill from a dairy property in 1983. That began with a tentative experiment, designed to provide one of their daughters with a job.

“We bought four thousand strawberry plants and said they're yours, I'll help you with them.” Said Margaret.

But as every parent knows kids don't always follow the grand plan and daughter Belinda took up another job opportunity. Doug and Margaret had ventured into a new business of their own - which is now very popular with hungry day-trippers from town.

The temptation to overindulge is pretty overpowering but if your worried about a few extra kilos, don’t despair - the fern garden walk is close at hand.

The Fern Garden is Margaret's labour of love - a work in progress dating back thirty years.

“Originally this was all wild oats,” she smiled. “And they grew to be about six feet tall.”

Now it's offers the perfect place to unwind and walk off the scones and jam or ice cream and strawberries on what is a great 50 minute escape from the bustle of town.

Netherhill Strawberry Farm is just off the Gumeracha to Lobethal Road. Just look for the sign.

Netherhill Strawberry Farm
Nether Hill Road
Kenton Valley
Off the Gumeracha to Lobethal Road
Open daily - Devonshire teas available
www.visitadelaidehills.com.au/netherhill