What started as a humble hobby for Sue and Gary Lee, has turned into a 3,000-plant dragon fruit farm supplying fresh produce from central Queensland to Melbourne.
The exotic, bright-coloured fruit comes in more than 100 varieties, which require night-time hand pollination.
The Lees knew nothing about the tropical fruit until tasting it on a trip to Vietnam seven years ago.
They planted 50 cactus cuttings in a paddock near Rockhampton to try something new.
"We've gone from a handful of plants to over 3,000 plants," Mr Lee said.
AgriFutures Australia said domestic demand for fresh dragon fruit had "grown rapidly" with the average price increasing from $3 per kilogram in 2012 to $5 per kilogram in 2020.
Griffith University nutrition and dietetics lecturer Lisa Vincze said early research showed the fruit had unique health benefits.
"In terms of a fruit to eat, absolutely, it's a good one," she said.
Juggling two jobs
Mr Lee works in an underground coal mine on alternative weeks while Ms Lee runs a childcare business four days a week.
But both also put in full-time hours on the plantation.
"We still want to put in another 400 [plants] and we're up to about 92 varieties of different dragon fruit," Mr Lee said.
Outside her usual work day, Ms Lee picks fruit, grabs cuttings or mows the lawn.
"We're not scared of a bit of hard work," she said.
"I think what you put into your farm is what you get out of it too, if you don't put any work in you don't get the benefits."
Mr Lee works in coal mine safety but enjoys the labour-intensive process of running the plantation.
"When I come home it's full-on farm work," he said.
"It's irrigation, fertilisation, a lot of pruning work, [and the] picking is all done by hand.
"Even though it's hard work and it's hot because it's a summer blooming plant, I find it really rewarding especially when you get nice quality, really big fruit."
Night farming
Dragon fruit plants flower at night, so the Lees often have an unconventional work schedule during each flush of fruit from November to June.
"I normally vacuum of a night and collect pollen and then in the morning we go out hand pollinating with an old make up brush and a container of pollen," he said.
The Lees send their high-quality produce to Melbourne and sell the smaller fruit at a cheaper rate to local markets.
"I think we might've sent about six pallets last year so hopefully we're looking at eight or 10 [this year]," Ms Lee said.
"We get paid per box and it just depends on market price and the size of the fruit."
Nutritional benefits
Dr Vincze said while the nutritional value was comparable to other fruits and vegetables, dragon fruit did have some exceptional benefits.
"What the research shows [is for] people who have pre-diabetes, or people who have diabetes, it may actually help them to control their blood sugar levels," she said.
"It's got about twice the amount of fibre that about a 150 gram serve of mango does.
"We are seeing in the research that some of the antioxidants in [dragon fruit] may help to protect against some cell damage but the research in this area is fairly new."
Dr Vincze said the fruit's seeds also contained healthy fatty acids.
"We know that omega 3s and omega 9s, our mono saturated fats, are good for our cardiovascular health," she said.
Many are drawn to the fruit for its aesthetic.
"It looks amazing, so it can make you want to eat your food, want to eat a smoothie bowl, yoghurt, granola because it's got those beautiful colours through it," Dr Vincze said.
Future plans
The Lees also grow other produce including passionfruit, jackfruit, guavas and finger limes.
"We hope to transition at some stage [from our day jobs] to just the farm once it's fully developed," Mr Lee said.
"Then it'll be our semi-retirement job."
They look forward to seeing more dragon fruit on the menu across Australia.
"A lot of them have citrusy tones or some have berry flavours, [with a ] sweet, subtle background," Mr Lee said.
He said there was good demand for the fruit and cuttings for people to grow it themselves.
"They're very high in antioxidants, good vitamins and minerals – that's why we got into them," he said.
