Anne Simmons
Next time you’re crunching into the sweet slice of pineapple on the lip of a cocktail and pondering its origins, don’t let your mind wander too far.
No, pineapples don’t grow underground, nor do they hang from trees.
If you ventured to the tropics to find the fruit, you’d be getting warmer, literally, but need only head to Jeeralang Junction and find a ripe specimen in a small pot.
Maree and John Lambrecht have nurtured a pineapple from a cutting given to them by their daughter, Belinda, who lives in Queensland.
The Express visited the growing green fruit in late April and returned in August – after a Gippsland winter – to find a ripe pineapple in its golden glory.
“I never thought it would happen,” Mr Lambrecht said.
“There would be a lot of sceptics out there saying it was global warming.”
Curiously, his daughter has been trying to grow a pineapple in Queensland, and failed at the task.
Her parents’ fruit is smelling sweet, leaving them “amazed” at its success.
Mr Lambrecht planted the cutting in December last year and the trick to ripen it through winter was to cart it inside overnight to the room with the fireplace, he said.
Its ripening coincides with his and Maree’s 50th wedding anniversary on August 10.
While they have celebrated the milestone with a trip to the coast, they are still unsure what they will do for the occasion when the pineapple is cut open.
