The Strawberry Pick
Ten minutes out of Echuca, a paddock of strawberry rows on Lady Augusta Road was planted in late 2016 by Matt and Wayne, two agronomists who swapped consulting for growing. The picking season runs from mid-to-late October through to mid-May, open weekends, Victorian school holidays and most public holidays, with strawberries priced at a flat rate whether picked or bought pre-punnetted. A food van on site serves coffee and scones alongside the farm's own strawberry ice-cream, sorbet and preserves, including a strawberry balsamic glaze and dessert sauce made from fruit that doesn't make it to the punnet. Outside the growing season the gates close entirely rather than running a skeleton operation, with the farm's social media used to announce the spring reopening each year. Set among the Murray's hay paddocks a short drive from central Echuca, it gives river-town visitors a reason to detour into the surrounding farmland, not just the wharf and paddle steamers.