User Profile

Elyse Armanini

When life gives you bees, make honey

IT is common knowledge that without bees we would struggle to survive as a human race, and their importance is amplified by the many produce varieties that require their pollination services across the state. Affectionately known as the Riverland...

Elyse Armanini

November 2023

Poultry

Bok-bok-boking on Glenview’s door

GLENVIEW Poultry Farm, based in the Riverland’s Pike River, is a family-owned and operated farm, home to both free range and caged chickens. Darren ‘Chook’ Letton was born into the poultry and egg business, with his parents setting up what is...

Elyse Armanini

September 2023

Wine Grapes

Ashley’s glass-half-full approach to drying racks

WINEGRAPE drying racks left behind at a vineyard in the Riverland will result in a new wine added to a special range for Ricca Terra winemaker Ashley Ratcliff. Despite not looking to purchase a vineyard at the time, when Ashley and his wife Holly...

Elyse Armanini

June 2023

Horticulture

Darrel and Charmaine found their Niche, and stuck to it

FROM a third-generation family fruit salad block to a successful dried fruit business, a husband and wife team are navigating the challenges and triumphs of growing 17 acres of fruit together. Darrel and Charmaine Size run Niche Fruits out of their...

Elyse Armanini

March 2023

Horticulture

Take a gander at Fat Goose Fruits

FOR more than a century, the Howie family has grown citrus trees in Renmark, and Humphrey Howie has taken the next step into the future: converting his orchard to certified organic. The five-acre home block is a small snapshot into what the 50-acre...

Elyse Armanini

December 2022

Horticulture

Not a woolly winter for this Black Sheep

THE block of land nestled on Loxton’s outskirts may be unassuming, but exciting things are happening for the husband-and-wife team at Black Sheep Produce, home to three unique crops. Following a record harvest of jujubes and capers earlier this...

Elyse Armanini

September 2022

Nuts

Louis’ passion for almonds keeps on growing

GROWING up with farming parents who immigrated from Italy in the late ’60s, Louis Curtis (pictured) was born and bred to become the farmer and agricultural businessman he is today...

Elyse Armanini

July 2022

Ag News

Local growers, mayor, react to federal Labor’s water policy… (Buy) Back-off

THE potential re-introduction of water buyback schemes under a federal Labor government would harm the economic security of local communities, according to two senior growers, an MP, and a Riverland mayor. Just days ago, Opposition Leader Anthony...

Hugh Schuitemaker

April 2022

Horticulture

Award-winning Riverland dried fruit? It’s a pretty fig deal

JUST off the Sturt Highway in Monash lies a century-old family orchard of over 1000 fruit trees and a vineyard, all growing in the rich soil of the Riverland, with an award-winning dried fruit business to boot. Since moving home from the ‘big...

Elyse Armanini

February 2022

SA Farmer

Little to mull over in the move to mulberries

With lush, green trees as far as the eye can see, and dark, sweet, zingy berries that grow undoubtably well in the harsh Riverland climate, there was little to mull over when a local grower changed from wine grapes to mulberries seven years ago. For...

Elyse Armanini

February 2022