Agritourism Award: From shed to agritourism destination

Don Nightingale, Nightingale Bros. accepted the Agritourism award at the annual event in Melbourne in July. Photo: Ned Meldrum

Ross Nightingale is worried about customer parking. It’s a good problem for Nightingale Bros, the recipient of this year’s Agritourism Award, to have. 

“People park anywhere,” Ross said with a shake of the head. The shire has asked him about adding more parking spaces and knows sooner or later it could become an issue. But when your farm shop has grown into a genuine destination close to one of Victoria’s busiest tourist towns, that sort of pressure is welcome. 

No one expected Bright to boom the way it has. The Nightingales certainly didn’t see it coming when they built their first modest shed at the front of the Wandiligong orchard. What started as a practical solution because ‘the farm gate was getting too much for Mum’ has quietly turned into a thriving agritourism business that complements their longstanding wholesale apple and pear operation. 

The brothers – Don (72), Ross (70) and Bruce (69) – have been growing quality fruit in north-east Victoria since the mid-1950s, with additional orchards in Batlow, NSW. While wholesale remains the backbone of the business, the Wandiligong farm shop has added a vibrant new layer. 

“It was never intended to be a destination, but it certainly is now,” Ross said.  

The simple farmgate stall has since expanded to a must-visit stop for tourists who often arrive by the busload. Besides bagged apples, value-added lines have taken off too. Sales of apple pies have gone from around 600 in the first year to 4,000 last year. Their baker Sonya started one day a week and now cooks five days, with Ross forced to rent the Bright Bowls Club kitchen to keep up with demand. 

Ross Nightingale is keen to introduce pick-your-own apples and a café to the orchard and agritourism business at Nightingale Bros in Wandiligong. Photo: Erin Davis Hartwig, Beechworth Photographers

As well as apples and persimmons, the orchard produces 200–300 tonnes of chestnuts a year and Ross has also seen strong success with hazelnuts, which he gets cracked and roasted in Wangaratta before selling them plain, flavoured, or as part of apple jelly products.  

“We’re not afraid to experiment,” he said. “It’s becoming a bit of a one-stop shop and local people come to us to ask if they can sell their things through the shop.”   

Alpine Cider, launched in 2016, plays a solid supporting role.  

“We only put about five per cent of our fruit into cider, but the shop is where people come for the cider and the apples. It helps keep everything alive.”  

Having customers come to Wandiligong to buy Alpine Cider has meant Ross could cut back on the growing expense of delivery vans and sales reps.  

The large lawn area, with cricket sets, basketballs and other toys put out daily by Ross’s wife Leanne, has become a favourite family spot. Kids can play safely while parents relax. The operation now supports four shop staff on rotation, plus backpackers. Ross and Leanne often handle early morning or late-night stocking because ‘you can’t stock the shop when it’s full of people’. 

Ross is refreshingly honest with advice for any grower thinking about starting their own farm shop. His key message: location is everything.  

“This shop would not survive on locals. It survives on the tourists. Bright just keeps getting busier all the time, but I’m not sure this would have worked in Batlow.”  

The brothers originally debated putting the shop on the highway into Bright but are glad they kept it on the farm.  

Cindy Heafield is one of the four shop staff welcoming visitors to Nightingales Alpine Produce. Photo: Erin Davis Hartwig, Beechworth Photographers

What’s next? Ross is keen to introduce pick-your-own apples and a proper, sit-down café, but knows he’ll need to convince his brothers first.  

With four generations now involved, the agritourism side offers something exciting for the next generation to build on. The shop may handle only a small slice of their total produce, but the brand-building, education of the public, and extra income stream have made it vital.  

For many growers facing thin margins on wholesale alone, the Nightingale Brothers’ story shows what’s possible when you open the gate and invite the public in. It hasn’t always been a smooth ride (Covid was hard, along with the threat of bushfires), but as Ross and his family have proven, the rewards go well beyond the daily takings at the cash registers. 

And if the biggest headache is figuring out where visitors are going to park, that’s not a bad problem for a grower to have. 

This article was first published in the Winter 2026 edition of AFG.