FOR almost 100 years, Valley Nut Groves in Gapsted has been growing and selling high quality walnuts to locals and visitors, with all signs pointing to another century of production.
The third–generation family business began in 1923 when Ebehardt and Henry Schlapp, with backing from their father Herman, purchased a parcel of land on the banks of the Ovens River to grow nuts after seeing how successful the industry was in California.
Ebehardt's daughter and current manager of Valley Nut Groves, Gillian Gasser, said the duo had to run some tests to see which varieties worked best for the unique climate of the alpine region.
"They experimented with around 15 different varieties, then they decided that two or three of those are far superior for this climatic area," she said.
"The initial planting was quite mixed, they ended up taking a certain number of trees out and replanting with Franquette walnuts.
"As the years went by, they had to develop drying kilns and processing, so that machinery would've been imported from the United States, initially.
"They built a drying kiln according to what was current in the 1930s...they build two kiln spaces and then extended it.
"That kiln on the farm is actually heritage–listed – it's made from timber, and I suspect the wood might've been imported as well to build it."
Ms Gasser said during the height of the walnut industry, the orchard was producing tons upon tons of product and while it has seen a decline, demand is always at a high.
"During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s the orchard was at its peak with production averaging about 50 ton – I know in one year there were 70 tons," she said.
"Unfortunately we've allowed the orchard to diminish, as the trees have gotten older we've only replanted small areas, and our production is around 10–15 tons.
"We don't actually harvest half of the trees, and this year it was even more challenging because we didn't have workers available for us – I thought we had a few lined up but they all wanted to go north.
"There is enormous demand, we always sell out.
"We've had a good reputation, and because we wash and grade and dry very carefully, our quality is very good, and we never have a problem with selling.
"We sell quite a lot of nuts directly from the farm shop, and to some wholesalers, but as our production had dropped, it's not such a big business as it was in the past."
While the most recent harvest was heavily impacted by worker shortages due to COVID, Valley Nut Groves has been slowly diversifying its offerings in the capable hands of Ms Gasser's son, Ronaldo Cortes.