ABC Far North /By Brendan Mounter and Charlie McKillop Posted Mon 10 Apr 2023
Bush cherries foraged from the country around Aunty Cherry Turpin’s bush camp.(ABC Far North: Brendan Mounter)
On a rural block just off a remote road linking two tiny Far North Queensland towns sits Aunty Cherry Turpin’s bush camp.
It was established after the 560-hectare parcel of land on her grandmother’s country, Mbabaram, was handed back to the family through native title.
Aunty Cherry’s bush camp is hidden amongst the scrub near Watsonville in Far North Queensland.(ABC Far North: Brendan Mounter)
She laments what’s been lost over generations of disconnection from ancestral lands.
“My grandmother was taken away from this country and she probably missed out on a lot of stuff from this country,” Ms Turpin says.
“I feel sad about that … but I think that’s what they taught us … to come back to country and live the life they did; a healthy life.”
But it’s the future of this land, and what she and her brother Gerry Turpin are growing together, which has her excited.
“The idea is to build our own rainforest and arid food industry on country,” she says.
“Since I’ve been on country back here, we’re learning as we go, discovering our own food and plants and how they work in the environment.”
Aunty Cherry Turpin is hopeful her project will help the next generation reconnect with country.()
Aunty Cherry was inspired to grow bush foods by her father, who hails from Yidinji rainforest country.
“We looked at how they lived way back in the early days, they didn’t have fertilisers or anything like that,” she says.
“They put their seeds straight back in the ground where they sat and ate and that’s how the country’s grown with all this food – that’s the same idea as we want to do.”
Old ways in the modern world
The bush block is a myriad of makeshift structures.
There are irrigated experimental plots of native fruits, vegetables and herbs growing in greenhouses, and garden beds interspersed with caravans.
The Turpins are experimenting with garden beds and greenhouses for growing native foods.(ABC Far North: Brendan Mounter)
There is also a camp kitchen and yarning circle, where family members come together for meals and a cuppa after a hard day’s work.
So far, modest yields of native finger limes, tamarinds and cassavas have been produced.
Uncle Gerry Turpin is an ethnobotanist who’s using his academic and cultural experience to bridge the gap between traditional knowledge and modern life.
Uncle Gerry Turpin brews a tea made from leaves harvested while foraging around his bush camp.(ABC Far North: Brendan Mounter)
He’s hoping the model can be up-scaled and replicated in other communities.
“This project is about helping communities,” he says.
“There are plenty of ideas and knowledge, but they just don’t have that financial backing.
“So, this project is about helping the communities to at least to be able to start and then get going.”
Forage, knowledge and sharing culture through cooking
Uncle Gerry’s knowledge of Australia’s northern savanna lands is apparent as he takes a small party on a hunt for bush tucker.
The musk mallow plant found in northern Australia has an edible underground tuber. ()
They’re collecting a haul of bush cherries, edible grasses and leaves when Gerry spots a hibiscus-like flower, a bright speck in the otherwise brown, harsh scrub.
Uncle Gerry Turpin digs for the tuber of a native musk mallow plant.()
He reaches for his digging tool and after a few lusty blows, removes the tuber of the musk mallow.
“We’ll take it back to camp, wash it and roast it on the coals – we’ll think of ways we can use it in the modern sense as well,” Uncle Gerry says.
Uncle Gerry Turpin removes the tuber of a musk mallow plant.()
The musk mallow tubers are washed before being roasted on the coals and plated up.()
And that’s where chef and teacher Cat Clarke comes into the project.
She’s been working with the Turpins and other traditional owner groups to develop recipes, with the aim of producing an Indigenous cookbook blending ancient ingredients with contemporary cuisine.