The Dales
Honouring the land and its bounty
Quick links | Our Why | Our Mill | Our Bushranger
Just a few kilometres from the Brady’s Lookout State Reserve is our farm The Dales, which is full of little valleys (or as they say in old English ‘dales’) running through it.
A former pear and walnut orchard, our Tamar Valley property has come a long way over the years. Purchased for its location, Chris and Caro inherited a rundown farm that hadn’t been cared for in some time. A third of the land was covered in weeds, and outbuildings were near collapsing.
Over many long days and late nights, Chris and Caro have transformed the property with regenerative and closed-loop farming practices, to a point where it now helps the local wildlife thrive and supports their cider and wine production.
Our labels incorporate the colours of flora and fauna located at Brady’s Lookout.
Conserving the land
In the process of removing all the weeds across the property, Chris and Caro had to change the landscape and used the opportunity to create a habitat for the local animal species.
Setting aside one third of The Dales for conservation purposes, they’re collaborating with other community groups to create an ecosystem that thrives.
Some of their best helpers in the heritage apple orchard are the Eastern Barred Bandicoots, who dig in the ground and eat the insects they don’t want near their apples.
Eastern Barred Bandicoot
(Image: Hans and Annie Wapstra)
Recognised as a near threatened species native to Tasmania and mainland Victoria, Chris and Caro have established their very own on-farm Eastern Barred Bandicoot Conservation Project.
Working with NRM North, the Tasmanian Land Conservancy, University of Tasmania, the Rotary Club of Tamar Sunrise and West Tamar Landcare Inc as part of the National Landcare Program, they released joeys on the farm in 2021. Currently, they’re working on a project with the University to study what’s in the landscape around the property and determine what genetic diversity there is amongst the bandicoots in the local area.
Chris and Caro continue to work with the local Rotary Club to re-establish tree life around the property and will soon be running workshops to teach farm visitors how to build nesting boxes and insect hotels.
“There’s an old saying in Australia that the best apple to make cider is whatever apple you can get.”
– Ruth Dawkins, Brand Tasmania
keeping heritage apples alive
Historically, Tasmania has never been known to have dedicated cider orchards. Market demand typically called for eating and cooking apples in times past. While each has their own unique flavour profile, some of these traditionally popular apple varieties don’t have the depth of flavour that Chris and Caro were looking for when crafting their ciders.
While they’re often referred to as spittables, cider apples can create some really exciting flavours when blended together. Wanting to establish a local supply and conserve the future of heritage apples, Chris and Caro set about planting a heritage apple orchard on The Dales shortly after purchasing the property. Now with over 85 rare apple varieties (some of which haven’t been planted for many years), they use these apples to create the aromatic and complex ciders they are increasingly becoming known and celebrated for.
Time the seasons right and you’ll find Chris and Caro sell some of these varieties at their Harvest Market stall in Launceston from March to May.
“Chris calls them 'the curiosity apples'. People definitely are curious, because many of the varieties are ones they haven’t heard of before. It leads to fantastic conversations and people can take them home and experiment a bit."
– Caro Brown, Cider Maker
Want to learn more about how you can honour the land and its bounty?
Book a tour of our cider mill and heritage apple orchard.