An authentic PYO (pick your own) farm experience
If you’re looking to take on a little adventure with either your friends or family, then a Pick Your Own Oranges Dooralong farmgate experience is one to add to your list.
Located in the beautiful Central Coast hinterland the first 260 citrus trees were planted on the 164 acre property by the Daley family in 1907.
The Dooralong valley had always been a citrus and dairy area but the citrus industry was decimated when juicers began importing citrus pulp from Brazil. This is still the case today with the less expensive juices available on the supermarket shelves being reconstituted juice from Brazil. You can of course purchase Australian juice at a slightly higher price, but naturally, it tastes much better, or better yet pick your own oranges and squeeze your own fresh orange juice.
In 2011 Jack and Kay Schlachter purchased the land and subdivided it into 3 properties keeping most of the orchards which are now the last in the valley. Although not knowing anything about horticulture Jack has managed to keep most of the trees alive. Some of the trees are thought to be 100yrs old and whilst they are succumbing to old age they are still producing fruit.
Around 7 years ago Jack and Kay started to sell bags of oranges from two roadside locations via a honesty box system which proved to be very popular. Following this around 4 years ago they started the ‘Pick Your Own’ which has become so popular Jack and Kay no longer sell from the roadside stalls.
For those keen to come along and do some orange picking for themselves one thing to note is that the fruit sweetens at different times from year to year so it’s not possible to have a predictable opening of the season, good news is the seasons about to kick off.