The only apple trees growing on our property in Geeveston were planted by us in 2021, a selection of heritage varieties that are some years away from bearing useful fruit. There is also one small Geeveston Fanny sapling on our property boundary that stubbornly refuses to give up despite the council's best efforts. This small collection is a meagre reflection of a very different past.
I have an aerial photo taken in 1970, showing orderly rows of apple trees extending well beyond the picture. You can see sheds and driveways and patterns on the ground that indicate a working orchard. In the intervening 50-odd years, the landscape has changed dramatically. The land has been divided, the sheds have been knocked down, the apple trees have been removed, other trees have been planted.
Apples and southern Tasmania have a history that begins with the earliest European settlement. In 1788 William Bligh sailed The Bounty into Adventure Bay on Bruny Island. Needing to replenish water and firewood, the ship set anchor. Whilst on shore, Bligh planted several fruit trees: three apple trees, nine vines, six plantains and the stones of plums, peaches, and apricots. He revisited in 1792 and noted in his ship's log that “it was a peculiar satisfaction to me to find one of the apple trees I planted here in 1788. Only one remained, and this although alive and healthy, had not made a shoot exceeding 12 or 13 inches".
It would be romantic to think otherwise, but this wasn't the beginning of Tasmania's commercial apple industry. Rather, as the population spread throughout the colony, so did the apples grown from seeds brought from England. By the 1930s, these trees were producing significant crops, often much more than could be consumed by the local market. Thoughts turned to establishing export markets and producing by-products, such as cider.
Orchards in the Huon Valley took a little longer to get going than those in the north. Transportation routes needed to be better established, and the timbered land required much clearing. William Geeves planted the first orchard in Geeveston in 1851: two rows each of Windsor Pippin, Scarlett Pearmain, Blenheim Orange, French Crab, Alexander and Stone Pippin. It proved fortuitous for the Huon Valley, with the trees reaching maturity at the end of the 19th century when the industry was really taking off. Also, in their favour, the southern orchards were fortunate to escape the worst effects of the codling moth and could fill the supply hole left by the ravaged orchards of the state's north. By 1883 there were 552 orchards in the Huon Valley.
With a regular steamship service and the adoption of refrigeration, the export market grew, and despite interruptions during the world wars, by the 1950s, apple exports were strong. By 1971, about 75 per cent of the apples grown were exported, mainly to the UK and Europe. This changed when the UK joined the European Common Market in 1973, leading to the loss of the largest export market. Combined with Australia's revalued currency, changes to tax exemptions, and the impact of inflation on freight costs, the viability of the apple industry was in doubt.
The government introduced a “reconstruction scheme”, essentially a tree pull, which saw 700 orchardists leave the industry and halved the land area of orchards. And this is when the apple trees would have disappeared from around our house. Not only did the apple trees go, but also the associated infrastructure. An aerial photo taken today would show parcels of land bound by fences, garages and garden beds and vague shadows of driveways and paths that hint at a once working orchard.
Thankfully, apple orchards are still a feature of the Huon Valley, and it is still possible to buy poetically named heritage varieties from roadside stalls. They are a staple of the winter kitchen, a comforting default ingredient when the gloom of the cold days necessitates pudding. An old-fashioned end to the meal, full of warmth and stodge! This Apple Brown Betty is just that type of dessert. It is one that dates back to American colonial times, simple and rustic, that uses leftover ingredients, with plenty of variations between locations and families. This is a version I like to make.
Apple Brown Betty
160 g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
50 g butter, melted
140 g brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch ground cloves
1 kg Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced into thick slices
Zest of 1 lemon
40 ml lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 15 x 22 cm baking dish with butter.
Put the breadcrumbs into a medium bowl and pour over the melted butter. Mix well. Stir in the sugar and spices.
Put the apples in a second bowl with the lemon zest and juice and lightly toss.
Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of the breadcrumb mixture over the base of the baking dish. Top with half of the apples and then sprinkle over half of the breadcrumbs. Repeat with the remaining apples and breadcrumbs. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 20 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden. Serve with custard or ice cream.
Julia Matusik is the complete foodie. She has had market stalls, organised farmer’s markets, run a cafe, done postgraduate studies in gastronomy, conducted cooking classes and judged preserves and cakes at the Brisbane Show. She cooks most days and, perhaps most tellingly, she misses cooking when she goes on holiday. Julia and her husband Michael recently moved from Brisbane to Geeveston, where they now live in an 1890s farm cottage, surrounded by a seasonal rhythm far more pronounced than the life they knew in the sub-tropics. More of Julia Matusik’s writing and recipes can be found at www.juliaspantry.com.au.
