New Zealand Treecrops Association

Waikato and Thames-Coromandel Branch

TAUMARUNUI TAUPO TURANGI SUB-BRANCH NEWS

FIRST MEETING

Saturday, November 9th was the first event for the 3Ts group. 17 people met at Don Dempsey's farm, Lower Retaruke, Owhango, near Taumarunui. Mary Banks and Maurice Denton kindly represented the main committee, and the rest of us were locals anxious to pick Don's brains - after all he was a man born of a family who has lived in the area since first settlement!

Lunch-time discussion was all about the weather - in particular frost prediction and protection, and the noticeable changes in our climate over the last five years. Don's farm is the site of an official meteorological office weather station and Don has been collecting and reporting information for over forty years. Sadly his figures showed that the milder winters and cooler summers in our area were part of a steady trend reflecting the climate change. And the later heavier frosts, constant winds and cold weather instead of spring were here to stay. Not comforting news, unless you manufacture frost cloth!

Don was one of the first people to trial hazels for the NZTCA. He is also trialling black truffles for Ian Hall and his team and has been growing blueberries for years. He has been experimenting, ever since he bought the farm in 1951, with a large assortment of tree crops. It's his careful record keeping and observations over the years which have provided some of the information that helped tree nurseries develop the quality trees we can buy today.

Don's farm was an excellent place for our first visit and the group look forward to a field trip in Taupo in February 2003.
(The notes on dealing with late frosts made during our visit to Don's are available for anyone if they email me or send a self addressed envelope.)

Congratulations to the 3Ts Sub Branch From Maurice Denton and Mary Banks

It was a pleasure for Mary Banks and I to attend the first meeting of the Taumaranui, Taupo, Turangi Sub Branch in November. We extend our thanks to Patrika for setting this group going. It was a most interesting Field Day.

Blueberries and more -
Don Dempsey lives southwest of Owhango, and if that sounds to you Waikato people terribly south and terribly cold, then think again! The road to Don's place turns off from SH4 just south of Owhango and in a few Kilometres falls 1,000 feet to his farm. A much different altitude and a much warmer climate than expected! Good grazing country where Don, his daughter Isobel, and her two youngsters tend cattle - and their tree crops. I will leave it to others to tell you about their hazels, truffles, apples, etc.

Some years ago Don created a two-acre flat area by the simple method of blocking the drainage from a small gully, and encouraging it to silt up. On this damp fertile flat he planted blueberries. The bushes are still there and still producing a saleable crop each year. He has several different varieties, some doing better than others. Blueberries don't like to dry out too much, but they also don't like continuously wet feet, so Don has raised the soil level in each row by about a foot. We noted the good weed control, and supposed that Don had sprayed out all weeds and grasses in the area. Of course, no competition for his precious blueberries. Then we were surprised to find out that the entire 2-acre plot is hand weeded! Don has made his own tool for this, a sort of weed-puller on a handle, which saves bending down. It is so effective that weeds have almost given up trying to grow in Don's patch.

The bushes were in flower when we were there, with their attractive little bell-like flowers. Apparently the bells are too long for honey bees to pollinate, so most of the pollination is done by bumble bees, which have longer tongues. Back home, I inspected my own few blueberry plants. In spite of the prolonged cold spring weather, which spoilt the fruiting of nearly every type of fruit I have, the blueberries do have a crop. Well, some of them do. Bushes of the newer varieties Blue Dawn, Blue Magic and Tasty Blue are in every way stronger, more healthy and more fruitful than older cultivars Southland, Tif Blue and A9. Some of these older cultivars are struggling to survive.

A year ago, when I planted my bushes, I worked into the soil copious amounts of peat, trying to provide my plants with the right soil conditions and low pH they need. I mulched the surface heavily with sawdust to suppress weeds and conserve moisture. I installed a very simple drip irrigation system which helped them through their first summer. No need yet to turn on the irrigatioruthis summer, with 168mm of rain in the first fortnight of December! Next job will be to cover the plants with netting to ensure that the berries benefit us rather than the birds.

And talking about benefits, recent experiments at a Florida university show that blueberries contain anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatories which make them one of the best foods for protecting the brain as we age, giving slower deterioration of cognitive function. The experiments also suggest they may help inhibit the onset of Alzheimer's Disease.

http://www.treecrops.org.nz/bracts/bract02/wai02/ttt1st02.html
Created: Sunday, 22 December 2002 - Updated: 2007 August 10