Tony Hinds was born and bred in Brisbane, but knew from a young age that he wanted to live on the land.

It took him a while to get there, but 14 years ago he finally made the move to Burringbar.

The property he ended up on was an overgrown avocado orchard, which dated back to the early days of avocado growing in the area.

“The trees were planted in 1958 and ’62. It was one of the first orchards on the Northern Rivers,” Tony said.

“A lot of orchards in the area would have been started from this one.”

He set to work bringing it back to life – clearing, cutting and replanting, and restoring it to its former glory.

Once he was up and running, he started selling his spray free fruit at the Byron and Mullumbimby Farmers Market during the local avocado season from mid-April to December.

He says he loved the markets from day one:

“I think it’s just the camaraderie with the other stallholders and getting to talk to the people you sell to,” he said.

Tony grows seven varieties of avocado – including the Hass – but also lesser known varieties like the Fuerte and Sharwil, renowned for their creaminess and flavour, but generally not grown commercially and therefore not available in the supermarket.

To get the best flavour, Tony says he never cold stores fruit.

“What we do here is we pick them, we ripen them and we sell them, We don’t hold them from week to week or anything like that.

“A lot of the ones you see in the supermarket have been cold stored for a long time, so from when they’re picked on the farm to when you get them, they could be a month old.”

Tony says cold storing avocados can cause chill damage, problems with ripening and lack of flavour.

“If you want good flavour in the fruit its best to have as little a possible storage time,” he said.

• Story and photo by Kate O’Neill