THE ABOUT PAGE ...
About the Project
To rescue the information compiled by members of The Rare Fruit Council of Australia, which was published in Newsletters between March, 1980, and August, 2002, and to make this information available to the public on the Internet.
About the Rare Fruit Council Of Australia
The RFCA came into existence at a meeting attended by more than 60 people in October, 1979, in Cairns, Queensland. The principle instigator was Alan Carle, acting on a suggestion from the Rare Fruit Council International, based in Miami, Florida, USA, that a similar organisation should be formed in Australia.
The purpose of the new group was to gather and share information about the growing and use of rare fruits, specifically for tropical and sub-tropical Australian conditions. Information and availability of rare fruit plants were very scarce then.
Regular meetings were organised, with a talk or lecture illustrated with slides, a demonstration of propagation techniques, a raffle of fruit trees, an exchange blackboard, and a fruit tasting table.
Meetings were immensely popular and well-attended. New sub-branches sprang up in a number of centres, each with their own meetings, events, and newsletters, under the umbrella of the parent group. Total membership grew to about 800 at its peak. Later, membership declined.
The Rare Fruit Council Of Australia Inc still exists today, with five branches in Queensland. The website can be found here: http://rarefruitaustralia.org/
About the Articles
The articles reproduced from the Newsletters were primarily those containing information about the nature of rare fruits and the horticultural methods for growing them. They appear as they were originally, with some very light editorial corrections in spelling and obvious errors. The quality of the articles ranges from short and simple to long and detailed.
Some of the links are to pages containing many species names: use the search facility of your browser to find specific terms.
About the Icons
Articles considered to contain particularly good horticultural information about a species are marked with this icon.
Articles marked with this icon are considered to be 'primary' articles, that is, they are primarily about the species in question.
'Secondary' articles are unmarked, and will contain some reference to that species, but probably in a very small or trivial way. Use the search facility of your browser to find specific references.
About the Photographs
Most of the colour photos accessed by the camera icon were created by members of the Sub-Tropical Fruit Club Of Qld., Inc.
About the Recipes
The recipes are presented as they were in the Newsletters. No further testing of them was conducted. Occasionally, crucial ingredients or instructions were omitted in the original recipe. It is left to the experienced cook to figure out what is needed in these cases.
About Links, In Alphabetical Order
- California Rare Fruit Growers
- Miami Rare Fruit Council International (RFCI)
- New Zealand Tree Crops Association
- Quisqualis Rare Fruit, Tropical Fruit and Rare Plant Information
- Rare Fruit Council of Australia (RFCA)
- Rare Fruit Society of South Australia
- Sub-Tropical Fruit Club of Qld Inc.
- West Australian Nut & Tree Crop Association (WANATCA)
- Rarefruit Group (An active e-mail chat group with a wealth of friendly and useful information)
DATE: 2011 April 30
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