Two Tuscan brothers, Archimede and Germano Fontanini, arrived from Garfagnana in 1906 and bought adjoining blocks on Seven Day Road outside Manjimup; four generations on, the 320 acres are run by Kirsty Fontanini and her husband, David Hargreaves, who took on the day-to-day management in 2016 as her father eased into retirement. The orchards carry apples, avocados, macadamias, chestnuts, walnuts, pears, persimmons and feijoas — the feijoa trees date to 1970 — and much of the fruit is also packed and graded for other Southern Forests growers under the family's sheds. From April into May the farm opens its rows to the public for pick-your-own, families working through the trees for whatever the season is throwing off: apples and pears early, feijoas and nuts as it runs on. It is a working packing operation first and a visitor stop second, which is part of its appeal in a district built on genuine growers rather than agritourism polish.
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