Crop a first for WA

Good old-fashioned bush tucker could be making a menu comeback with a Great Southern company harvesting what is thought to be WA’s first commercial crop of lemon myrtle.

Bjorn and Claudia Form at the Bushfood Factory and Café recently harvested the first mature crop from their plantation of 350 lemon myrtle trees, which they expect will meet commercial demand across WA.

Lemon myrtle is native to New South Wales.

The couple started the company, which specialises in 20 species of flourishing bush tucker, after emigrating from Switzerland with their two daughters six years ago.

Mr Form said this year’s climate conditions had led to a high-quality crop.

“This is something unique in WA,” Mr Form said.

“We started six years ago with something we didn’t know anything about, so everything we do is experimenting.

“We have used our previous harvests to create products to sell here and use in food at the cafe, but now our crop is big enough to cater for the whole of WA.” Mr Form said 90 per cent of this year’s lemon myrtle primary harvest would be destined for Perth buyers.

The couple’s lemon myrtle crop has been grown from special selections with high citral essential oil content.

This is different to the lemon myrtle species sold in nurseries often selected for their ornamental flowers.

All Bushfood Factory products are created on site at the couple’s purpose-built industrial kitchen, which churns out food spices, tea, essential oils – and food of course.

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