Grapefruit galore for Narrabri’s Mrs Shephard

A grapefruit tree in Narrabri is having its heyday, boasting the biggest bunches of fruit you’ve ever seen.

About 14 to 16 yellow grapefruit make up one of the many low-hanging bunches on Marjorie Shephard’s tree, and you’ll need both hands plus a friend to help you cut one down.

Mrs Shephard’s tree has stood on her property longer than she has, and in her 40 years of witnessing her tree bear fruit, this is the first time she’s ever seen it so full.

“You really wouldn’t believe it unless you see it for yourself,” said Mrs Shephard. “I’ve never seen bunches like that before, they are all squashed up and the fruit has pushed into the limbs of the tree.

“It has always given bunches of two or three, but this is the only time the tree has ever given fruit like this.”

Normal behaviour for a yellow grapefruit is to fruit in a singular or maximum of three to a bunch, but this is a peculiar phenomenon.

“There is no particular reason that I know of that this would happen, no one that I know of has seen anything like this either.”

Since Mrs Shephard is also an avid participant in the horticulture show, she took them into the most recent one for inspection.

“We took a bunch of 16 into the horticulture show and they hung it on the display as you walked through the door,” said Mrs Shephard.

“Everyone kept commenting on it and how they’d never seen anything like it before.”

This isn’t the first time that Mrs Shephard’s grapefruit has experienced the limelight, but according to her, there are no secrets to her citrus’ success.

“When I lived in town many years ago, I had a grapefruit tree in the backyard that bore an enormous grapefruit at the time,” said Mrs Shephard.

Marjorie Shephard admires the abundance of yellow grapefruit.

“I took it into Kelly’s fruit shop that used to be over town and they weighed it and said I should take this into The Courier newspaper.

“My daughter Lisa who was five years old stood on the kerb outside, and it was nearly the size of her head.”

Besides grapefruit, Mrs Shephard’s bounty is plentiful, she has always been a passionate but humble gardener.

“It’s what you do, and it’s also what they do for themselves.”

“I’ve had a few ribbons at the show, I can’t remember what for, but this year I only took in the herbs and eggs,” said Mrs Shephard.

“I’ve got plenty of orange and lemon trees, the horses have a keen nose for the sweetest of the orange trees and they always lean over the fence and pinch them.”

With all that fruit, Mrs Shephard is having a hard time keeping up.

With more new shoots making their way out of the ground from fallen fruit every day there’s plenty more grapefruit in her future. And with more fruit to give away than she knows what to do with, there might be an opportunity for some grapefruit jam-making in someone else’s future.