Apricots, Roxburgh

Jack & Lou Gilchrist – Town View Orchard

Gilchrist is a household name in Roxburgh when it comes to growing stone fruit. The family first began growing fruit in the early 1900s. Today, it’s headed by Jack Gilchrist, a fifth-generation fruit grower who has spent the past 13 years working in his family’s long-established orchard. 

Jack grew up helping during school holidays, mowing, spraying, and learning the ropes of orchard life before eventually joining full time.

We arrived on a misty morning to meet Jack and his energetic golden retriever Rodney for a tour of the apricot-laden trees.

Jack and his mother Lou primarily grows apricots, alongside cherries, peaches, nectarines and plums. The picture-perfect fruit is exported overseas, and the perfectly tasty but less cosmetically ideal fruit makes its way to Anathoth Farm (from our sampling straight from the trees, we can verify just how juicy and delicious these apricots are!).

His mum, Lou, runs a much-loved farm shop in town, drawing both locals and tourists with its fresh, seasonal produce. The orchard itself has become a charming pause-point for backpackers travelling through the region (on our visit, a hardworking group of French backpackers were busy picking).

A new project for Town View orchard is their investment in regenerative farming practices. Jack is developing an orchard block that focuses on building soil health through understorey plantings, using grasses and coriander between the rows to return nutrients to the earth and support long-term sustainability.

Sid Birtles – Remarkable Orchards

In Roxburgh East, Remarkable Orchards spans 90 hectares and has been producing export-quality apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches and apples since its beginnings in 1994. We piled into Sid’s ute for a tour around the property to get a better picture of the operation.

The orchard’s diverse crop mix means the harvesting seasons of apples, cherries and apricots do not overlap, allowing the team to offer steady and reliable work throughout much of the year.

To support their seasonal workforce, Remarkable Orchards provide onsite accommodation for pickers and packhouse staff, many of whom are from Vanuatu. During the peak summer months of January and February, harvesting apricots are the primary focus for the team.

Mal Dhillon - Lake Roxburgh Orchard

Over at Lake Roxburgh Orchard, Mal Dhillon runs a smaller operation, planting, pruning and picking most of the produce himself on his hilly 9-hectare section with a gorgeous view of Central Otago hills.

Mal is always keen to try new things and diversify his crops, boasting different varieties of apricots and sections of feijoas, cherries and grapes. 

Because he does so much of the work on his own, most of Mal’s apricot crop is supplied directly to Anathoth Farm rather than going to export. It’s simply more efficient for him to take his fruit down the road to the local packhouse, where it’s loaded alongside apricots from neighbouring orchards like the Gilchrists’, then picked up by our truck.

Adding charm to the orchard is Mal’s four-year-old black lab, Onyx, who enthusiastically helps pick the fruit from the lower branches. None of his selections make it to the factory, as they’re promptly devoured.

Mal grows four apricot varieties; Sundrop, Clutha Gold, Moorpark and Summer Blaze. With each ripening at different times, they provide a strategically staggered harvest across the season.