Sweet thrill on Berry Hill

That is just one of the pearls of wisdom in a recently released book written by the founder of Hahndorf's iconic company Beerenberg at Hahndorf, Grant Paech.

The appropriately titled Berry Hill: Stories and recipes from Beerenberg Farm (Beerenberg translates to Berry Hill in English), features a wealth of stories on the success of the family owned, proudly South Australian table-treats business.

It traces the journey of Grant and his wife Carol from dairyfarmers to establishing their own roadside stall to sell their own farm produce before moving on to Adelaide's East End Market and Central Market, and then the world with their delicious products.

Grant's daughter and strawberry lover Sally has helped compile the book which also features many mouthwatering recipes - from their favourite Adelaide Hills chefs - and beautiful illustrations.

In a series of short chapters Berry Hill recalls the family history as original settlers of Hahndorf, after escaping religious persecution.

On the lighter side, it tells of a young Grant's entreprenurial skills, selling mushrooms by the roadside so he could buy a pushbike.

And at the other end of the scale, how he came to supply Beerenberg mini jams on first-class Qantas flights in the mid 1980s, and the foray into the export market, supplying Hong Kong hotels.

There is even a chapter on the farm's heritage-listed barn built in the 850s and featured all their labels, and tips on how to grow and pick the perfect strawberry.

Grant, who became known locally as the "strawberry king" narrates these stories in the first-person.

The father-daughter book project started when Grant retiredsome five years ago, posting his handwritten recollections to Sally who was living in Victoria at the time. She would type them up when her baby was sleeping.

"He first started doing it because it was his is chance to record his piece of our family history - he definitely had no thoughts about a book," Sally said.

"The idea was that I would type it up and put it in order and photocopy it for all the different parts of the family."

From there, the Paechs looked for an editor, but it was Channel Nine identity Ron Kandelaars who convinced them to share their 175-year history at Hahndorf with the public.

Many South Australians have fond memories of family outings to the Hills, picking strawberries and returning with strawberry stained clothes. Now, about 31,000 people enjoy the experience each year, and many more call into the farm shop to buy some of the 65 different products such as strawberry jam, hot tomato sauce, caramelised onion, Coopers Ale Barbeque Sauce, and fruit chutney.

*Full report in Stock Journal, October 18 issue, 2012.