One of Australia's only bush tomato producers says he may have harvested his last commercial crop, ABC News reports.
Max Emery, 77, has grown bush tomatoes at his Desert Garden Produce farm, about 100 kilometres south of Alice Springs, for the past two decades.
The tomatoes, also known as desert raisins, are a small native berry that grow in the arid conditions of central Australia.
Mr Emery said he had been managing his bush tomato crop by himself since his wife died a few years ago.
He said it was time to be realistic about the huge workload after breaking his hip last winter.
"Normally I pick 400 to 500 kilos by hand," he said.
"It's quite full on when it gets going."
Mr Emery said he was disappointed with the 22-kilogram yield his recent summer crop produced.
"That's not very good at all," he said.
Mr Emery blamed his poor harvest on last year's harsh winter, which he said wiped out the crop's chance of a strong spring growth.
"In June we had 34 frosts one after the other, and severe frosts at that," he said.
He said the moths that pollinated the plant arrived too late in the year for the berries to grow as well as normal.
Mr Emery said he would sell his bush raisins to a restaurant group in South Australia.
"They can go into soups, sauces, they can be used in sweets," he said.
"Once you grind it, you can sprinkle it into your stews, you can also use the grindings as a top and bottom flavour on steak.
"There's untold uses for it."
FULL STORY
Bush tomato grower Max Emery hopes next generation will take on his native crops (ABC News)
PHOTO
Max Emery says he may have harvested his last commercial crop near Rainbow Valley.(ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis)
