THE name Ballantyne has become synonymous with some of the biggest, reddest and juiciest strawberries across the wider Mackay region.
In the winter months, a highway stall is set up at Calen where passersby flock to buy out the popular berry in a swarm.
And when the punnets disappear, a pick-your-own operation opens its gates at Ballantyne's Strawberry Farm where people from across the Mackay and Whitsundays turn out (up to 1000 on a busy weekend) to pluck their own produce straight from the plant.
It's a word of mouth endeavour (with 18,500 Facebook followers) that started after former miners Alan and Marg Balantyne purchased their Cameron's Pocket property in 1984 before making the move to farming full time in 1990.
They first tried their hand at watermelon, paw paw, zucchini and citrus.
"Watermelons were the start. That's when we got used to our plastic and our trickle. The first year was so good - there were 200-something tonne off this block, then the second year they weren't worth anything," Mr Ballantyne said.
But after a trip to Airlie showed them the popularity and profit associated with strawberries, they made the switch and never looked back.
For 15 years they have operated their pick-your-own side of the business, integrating a kitchen and cafe where the left-over fruit is used for ice creams, shakes, relishes and jams (with up to 4000 jars sold each season).
"We slowly got out of citrus and got bigger. We did Woolworths and Franklins back in the day, but it got difficult because there wasn't enough money in it," Mr Ballantyne said.
"We thought we'd try the highway with a few punnets and we kept running out. We kept building up then went to farmers markets."
A visit to the Mornington Peninsula showed them the viability of a pick-your-own operation, and after implementing it back at home it became so popular that they were quickly turning people away.
The Ballantynes are still on board but in a different capacity. They've sold up shop to a Pleystowe couple, Tim and Rose Molloy, who are learning the ropes from the former owners who will stick around for the season to teach them everything they know.
There are around 4000 plants out of 35,000 that will fruit in the next three weeks, with planting kicking off four weeks ago.
Mrs Ballantyne is one of the fastest pickers around, bested only by one other picker who joined the Ballantynes one season from his childhood strawberry farm on the Sunshine Coast.
"I do like it. It can be a challenge sometimes but at the end of the day, we go home happy," she said.
In Mrs Ballantyne's eyes, it's labour and costs that create the biggest challenges for the life of a strawberry grower - something she is happy to leave behind as they set off to spend more time with family and travel.
"Plants went up $100 per box last season. So it's $450-$500 a box," she said.
"It costs them a lot of money to grow these plants. They were originally grown in California, so they've got to buy the property and then we've got to pay our levees. They've increased...and the freight to get them here from Victoria.
"Our returns are always good because our pickers are trained to pick on full colour, not the stuff you see in the supermarket which is picked at 60 per cent with no flavour or sugar.
"Every punnet in that shed is checked by me so there's never any bad fruit that goes on the highway."
The Molloys took over the farm at the end of February, leaving behind a mining drill rig business for a lifestyle change, more quality family time and more time on the land.
Despite wet weather pushing back the delivery of plants from Victoria by two weeks, the family has jumped into the swing of things, joining a cohort of European backpackers to plant three acres of plants on the 120 acre property.
"To have (the Ballantynes) here to help and mentor us through has been a godsend, because otherwise we'd be stumped," Mr Molloy said.
"(They're teaching us about) timing, when the plants go in, when to get stuff organised, what the fertilisation program is and how that operates. All fertilisation is fed through drip tapes once a week...how to make the ice-creams, jams and relishes, learning the ropes of the secret recipes. Those things have been really helpful.
"We expect about a kilogram of fruit per plant. I don't know what percentage of losses will be throughout the year because rain affects them. If we get rain when the fruit's ripe we lose that fruit for the week."
Last week was the first week the farm had received a break from rainfall in three months.
"We came and helped Al and Marg through December and January...and it started raining which made it difficult to get the plastic down so we had a late start," Mr Molloy said.
"We hope to see fruit in the first week of the June/July school holidays. Picking goes for about 12 weeks. By the end of September it's starting to get too hot for the plants and they're starting to die.
"We're battling elements and heat and the rain to get them in. Because we've got a tourism side of it, if we can go from the first school holidays to the next...that's our goal."
This weekend, the farm will also open its grounds to 400 campers for next door's Wintermoon Festival, with one stage to be set up on the farm.
Mr Molloy hopes to expand into more music festivals, including Springfest, Australian and exotic fruits include jackfruit and Davidson plums - the latter of which he said could be used by Mackay's Goanna Brewery.
The family will also be bringing animals including pigs and goats to the farm from a local petting zoo, to help with grass management and as an attraction for families.
Two Maremma sheep dogs are also in training to guard the animals and help deter pests such as pigs, birds and wallabies - which enjoy munching away on the plants.
"Being able to make an income from your property and not have to travel for work. I did 15 years in mining and travelling away...it's definitely a family choice to come out here, bring the family together and get them out in the dirt," Mr Molloy said.
