AFTER a slow start to the season, Yarralee Orchard is hoping the rainbow that follows the storm isn't too far away.
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Between the rain, hail and frost, the cooler and wetter than normal weather has proved a hindrance to the orchard's fruit - even before it started to grow.
"It all started more or less with pollination problems - because of the cold and the wet, the bees don't want to come out to play," orchard owner Gerbina Gordon said.
"Stone fruit trees love dry conditions; they like a bit of moisture, but, because of the rain, in certain parts of the orchard, we're losing a lot of trees.
"Saying that, it's another positive because all the nutrients in the rain just make everything green and everything's nice and healthy."
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One saving grace for the orchard was the sunny weather in the week leading up to picking the peaches, with the sun sweetening and softening the fruit.
Ms Gordon said the small periods of sunny weather are helping a bit, but she is looking for summer to really kick in.
Though not all of their summer fruits are ready to sell, Ms Gordon said there's still a number of customers excited to see Yarralee Orchard open.
"Facebook has been going crazy, which is wonderful," she said. "That's our great way of communicating with people.
"Everyone's like 'ah, you're finally here'."
The orchard has a lot of nectarines on the trees just waiting for some warmer days before they are picked.
Though the early kumquats and apricots were damaged by the frost, Ms Gordon said they still have some small crops that came along a little later in the season that they will be able to put on the shelves.
She is just hoping they get some more cherries leading up to Christmas as many of them split in the rain.
Locals can purchase their fruit from Yarralee Orchard at any time of any day thanks to the addition of a refrigerated vending machine.
Fresh bags of fruit are put into the vending machine each day so locals going to work early or heading home late can still pop in and grab some fruit.
"That's really helpful for us. We found last year, when we were busy around Christmas, some of our locals would just go straight to the machine because they knew we were quite busy and they were in a hurry themselves," Ms Gordon said.