| Organics
Auckland Field Trip 18th.August 2001 |
| Notes
taker: Sarah Robinson |
Trip to
Valley Farm Eco Village, Te Hue Valley, near Paeroa:
Udaya and
Elizabeth, founders, and Tim and Vivienne, bus dwellers showed a large
group of interested people from Organics Auckland, Tree Croppers and Unitec
around their 400 acre property. 86 acres is presently grazed by cattle
and there is a substantial residue in regenerating bush with a stream meandering
through and some of us were treated to a view of their waterfall. The property
fitted Udayas wish list perfectly - not too isolated. The head of a water
shed, a sheltered valley, native bush-including access to the 13th biggest
Kauri in NZ, sandy-silty soil, bore for mineral water and scope for setting
up cottage industries. Currently they are making garments from a blend
of merino sheep wool and possum fur. Tim has been planting fruit
trees, matching
soil types to varieties and aiming at picking a fruit a day for residents.
Udaya has a strong commitment to community concepts and plans to include
educational outreach and environmental retreats, building small cabins
out of the timber from the pines they are felling. We looked at a map of
their proposed land use with locations for 13 future houses, vege gardens,
woodlots, beehives and hydro power generation. It will be fascinating to
see how their plans shape up over time. |
Later on
that day, lunch at Tony Belchers orchard at Waihi -
Change and
transformation would have to be the catchword here. Tony took over a conventional
dairy farm and transformed it into an apple and feijoa orchard which he
managed conventionally until he did a trip to the States and brought back
pheromone twist ties for codlin moth. Tony's orchard was used for trialing
these in NZ. When sprays recommended by MAF defoliated his new blueberry
plants for a second time, he decided to go organic and was able to
get premium prices for his fruit for ten years or so. With the recent competition
in the apple industry, Tony cut out his apple trees and planted blueberries.
He has extended his operations to include fruit wines and an organic food
café which we enjoyed heartily. He has also planted chestnut trees
to enjoy in his retirement. He has found a way to make sales of organic
orchard blocks attractive to people not familiar with organics. He offers
his expertise to new owners, thereby saving them from having to redo the
certification which enables the new owners to enjoy premium prices immediately. |
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