As you climb the Brookfield Road from the Moggill Road roundabout at Kenmore, you enter a different world where acreage, hobby farms and larger farming enterprises hold some hidden treasures.
It’s Mango Season and if you drive up Brookfield Rd, you may well come across Jenny Mohr, who sells trays of fruit from their farm in the cutting towards the top of the hill before the Gap Creek Road turn off.
Mohr Mountain Farm. Almost 100 years old and perfecting mangoes, custard apples and avos.
“We dip all our mangoes in water set at 52 degrees for 6 minutes, once they are picked, it seems to protect them from what we call anthracnose and removes any sap,” says Jenny.
“We use organic fertilisers, spray-free but we have never bothered to go for Organic certification.”
“Have you tried the Mohr Mangoes before,” a regular customer asks. “They are incredibly sweet, we go through a tray every few days.”
Trays range from $20 to $25, 14 to 18 mangoes are typical depending on size.
“We pick them green before the flying foxes start to attack them, as soon as they get a tinge of yellow, they become targets; so our timing on picking them is ruled by that. Once dipped in warm water, they are assembled on large benches to ripen naturally and develop a full, rich flavour.”
Jenny says that their crop of mangoes will likely be sold out by the 2nd week of February, as they are also being sold near Nuways in Seventeen Mile Rocks.
They have also been selling through a market at Brookfield Uniting Church and Moggill Markets, where they sometimes also sell limes.
Recently a local operation started producing a mango liqueur and sourced the Mohr mangoes as the best local produce for their product.
Geoff and Jenny are the 3rd generation of Mohrs to run the Mohr Mountain Farm in Upper Brookfield. Over the generations the farm has evolved from pawpaws and bananas to the current mangoes, custard apples and avocadoes.
Geoff also runs Aussie Beaver, which has been woodchipping for the local area since 1994.
The Mohr family settled in Upper Brookfield in 1926 and the farm is now the beneficiary of the 4th generation with Leanne and Sam now running it.
You can stay in touch with the Mohr Mountain Farm through their Facebook page.