APRIL 2003 NEWSLETTER

THE IMPACT OF THE DROUGHT
The lack of rainfall throughout Australia was also evident at Cape Trib during 2002. The drought looks set to continue for 2003. Our rainfall statistics are less than half the monthly average for January, February, March and April is not looking good.

The effects have been major on the orchard, with fruit production yields declining dramatically as the irrigation system cannot provide the huge quantities the trees demand. We had not really used our irrigation system in five years and the whole set up had to be re-located, and many pieces replaced or unblocked. Several Mangosteen
trees have started to die. With high expectations for 2003, that we would have a big Mangosteen crop to sell to Sydney, we are brought down to reality with about 14 trees producing a total of 100 mangosteens. The Salaks planted on rocky ground have dried out very quickly and many of these have died. We will not be replanting these
areas with Salaks.

The long term concerns are that the underground water supply has not had sufficient rainfall to replenish the storage and that water shortages this year could be far worse. If you want to view the rainfall statistics for Cape Trib for the last 60 years, go to
http://www.dctta.asn.au/rainfall.htm where Hans has posted the
monthly readings.

A NEW RECIPE FOR BREADFRUIT CHIPS
For the last six years we have been deep frying our Breadfruit Chips for the tastings, but a chance reading of a tip in a local magazine in New Zealand in February encouraged us to try a different recipe using the oven to bake them. The new chips are much easier to cook and really very tasty, so that they are often named as the best fruit on the tasting. They are chopped into wedges and then rolled in olive oil and Cajun spices, and baked at 250C for about an hour. Because the wedges are thicker you get the soft texture of the centre as well as the crisp outside. So if you have access to Breadfruit you should
try it!

BED AND BREAKFAST NEWS
Our little B&B cottage continues to grow in popularity. The Internet is our main marketing tool with half the bookings coming from overseas – Germany, UK and US. We are finding that people are adjusting their overseas trip to be able to fit in a stay with us. April and May are fully booked and June has a few days left, and July and August are filling up rapidly. The web site tells it straight and tries to put off people who would not appreciate it. The guests have been delightful and it is really great to have people appreciate the
experience so much.

We now have building permits to build a second cottage, which we plan to locate near the site of our old caravan, about 50 metres further along the creek edge. This will probably take us at least 12 months to build, but our goal is to have it ready for July 2004.

SPIDERS EVERYWHERE
The Golden Orb Weavers are everywhere at the moment – the gazebo, the house, the orchard and the B&B verandah. New guests are very tentative initially but settle in to the idea of having a huge harmless spider to watch instead of TV. The web filaments are glowing with gold thread in the afternoon sun and looks spectacular. Driving through the orchard on the tractor and getting them plastered across your face is not so romantic, for either the human or the spider.

WHAT'S FRUITING IN APRIL?
We are picking and eating Mangosteens, Rambutans, Abiu, Breadfruit, Matisia, Soursop and the last of the Jakfruit, but quantities are limited.