INDUSTRY NEWS
ABOVE : The Cavallaro family were able to harvest two rows of their orchard in a day , before the arrival of machinery . LEFT : A photograph of Larry Cavallaro taken by the Adelaide Advertiser in October 1985 .
FOR more than 50 years Larry Cavallaro and his family grew almonds in Angle Vale , but 2024 was the final harvest , as the 30 acre property was sold to new owners in mid-May . Houses now run along one side of their orchard , and an adjoining farm has just been cleared for residential development too . Growing almonds so close to homes has been challenging and the Cavallaros expected it was only going to get worse with more houses being constructed . While packing up a property is always hard work , it ’ s also been an opportunity for the family to reflect on their time growing almonds in the Adelaide Plains .
The early days During the week Larry Cavallaro worked fulltime in Adelaide with Simpson Pope Limited as production superintendent appliance division in Beverly . He then started an earthmoving company , while the family lived at Fulham Gardens . Tending to the almond orchard in Angle Vale was only done on the weekends . “ The kids never had a weekend off ,” Larry said . The family ’ s first almond property was 40 acres , which had been developed by Fred Keane for an investor . Initially there was one row pollinators for every six rows of Nonpareil , but over time the orchard was reworked so there were two rows of Nonpareil to one pollinator
The clay and alkaline soil weren ’ t suited to the rootstocks that were available at the time . As a result the trees suffered from crown gall and nematode issues . In 1991 the Cavallaros started growing flowers which included carnations and lisianthus . Within two years they were exporting carnations and other flowers into Japan , and suppling all Australian major cities from their three properties . In 1994 Larry became president of the Flower Growers Association of SA . With a good friend of his at the time , Kevin Collins , they started the Adelaide Flower Market . This allowed growers to sell their flowers in one location instead of traveling door to door . Larry ’ s son Peter continued as a director and ran the market for 10 years . In 1997 the family set up a new 30 acre almond orchard in Angle Vale .
Almond harvesting Larry ’ s wife , Teresa , pulled out the family photo albums , which highlight how much the almond industry has evolved in five decades . Rubber mallets and poles were used to knock the almonds from the trees , then they ’ d fall onto a tarp and get loaded into a trailer . “ We harvested two rows a day , which was outstanding ,” Peter said . The almonds were then dried on plastic sheets and the Cavallaros would drag their feet through the almonds to mix them up to dry .
Then they were shoveled back onto the trailer and put in a stockpile in the shed . In the early days they were taken to Salisbury , where John Moss operated the first cracking plant . “ That ’ s why Larry had five sons , to help with the farm work ,” Peter laughed .
The arrival of mechanisation The harvest work became less labour intensive , but this meant the family could do shaking and sweeping for other almond growers in the region . Larry owned one of the first Australian-made sweepers , which was mounted to a tractor and had a blower on the back . It was modelled on the machine that Brenton Sharp imported from the US . There was also a shaker and a pickup , owned in partnership with Don and John Costa . The shaker was an International truck that was driven backward through the orchard . Larry ’ s sons recall how they ’ d have to fend off countless spiders and other insects while harvesting , as there were no cabins for protection when they were younger . The Cavallaros also tried building their own pickup machine but it lived a short life . It was regarded as a dust machine that was more suited to picking up potatoes than almonds .
Irrigation The earlier commercial almond plantings at Marion and Willunga
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