Twenty years ago we had a dream to start a mangosteen orchard at Cape Tribulation. We knew very little about Mangosteens at the time, but we thought this is the 'project' for us. It has taken 20 years, but this week was a big milestone for us. On Sunday we picked and packed our first trays of our own Mangosteens and sent them to Sydney. Our eleven trays departed on Sunday night from Mareeba by truck, and are wedged into a small space crowded out by huge palettes of lychees, pawpaw, and longans.
Who knows how much the market will pay us for them - watch this space. We are hoping for $15 a kg. Then we have to take out the freight, packaging and wholesaling costs - our guess is $3 kg. So we might receive a return of $12 a kg. Keep your finger crossed for us. Time to start picking again for the next truck departing on Thursday.
Last year we did have a crop of about 500 kg, but we were overseas and arranged for a picking and packing company to do it for us. This is the first time we have actually got our hands dirty.
