John is a 4th generation fruit grower with an orchard in the Yarra Valley that was first established by his great grandfather in the very late 1860s.
In his words he’s ‘passionate about producing good quality produce” and is “very interested in maintaining the availability of, and producing more of the heritage varieties which are no longer produced for the consumer” because “heritage varieties have great culinary properties, their flavours and textures are so different to the new varieties”.
Until recently I didn’t know a lot about John, despite having had many interesting conversations with him while visiting markets. He has a wonderful wit, which if you do get the opportunity to have a chat with him really adds to the joy of the farmer’s market experience.