You will find Cottonville Farm at the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market every fortnight at Site #61
Produce: berries sold fresh in season (late November to early January), or frozen, in preserves and as a sorbet; poppies (in winter)
Contact Details
Cottonville Farm sits south of Stirling along the range, at Scott Creek, producing the most delectable berries, sold fresh, frozen and in preserves.
Helen and Alan Dawson own Cottonville Farm. One of the farm’s specialities is silvanberry, a hybrid blackberry with large glossy pink/purple fruit.
Just over 1 hectare is intensively planted with these prickly plants that are trellised and watered with drip irrigation.
No insecticide is used as the Dawson’s like to rely on spiders and small birds to do this work, and weeding is mostly mechanical. Minimal herbicide is applied in autumn, and only one fungicide is used prior to fruit formation.
Harvest time is from November to December when 10 pickers come in to help hand pick the delicate fruit.
Excess fruit is frozen or cooked into preserves. The preserves come in pure silvanberry, mixed berry with apple, and mixed berry with other varieties such as boysenberry, depending on harvest. Only silvanberries are used in the sorbet, which is mixed with sugar and water, then crushed and whipped to a delicious and creamy consistency.
During winter the Dawson’s help their neighbour Ron with his Iceland poppy crop. Some of these are ready just in time for Mother’s day.
Cottonville Farm can also be found at the Victor Harbor and Adelaide Hills Farmers Markets. The Dawson’s are putting in a lot of effort to enhance their fruit volume and appreciate the support of their customers.
You can also arrange to purchase produce from Scott Creek after contacting Helen or Alan by phone.