* Visitors welcome at all our functions. Come learn about Tree Cropping!
PLEASE respect our generous hosts' property and other visitors' peaceful attendance. Bring NO pets.
Beware of health and safety hazards which may exist - children must be supervised. Bring sturdy footwear and suitable clothing. Let's all enjoy our day!
Branch Field Days & Meetings:
- Branch Meetings: 4th Tuesday each month except December & January, at the Auckland Horticultural Centre, 990 Great North Road, Western Springs.
- Cup of tea or coffee at 7:15pm before meeting commences at 7:30pm
- Friends and visitors always welcome.
- Meetings and Field Trips - refer to Activities - Nationwide
Newsletter Editors and compilers - Important note:
2012 March
National TCA Conference in Nelson 30 March - 1 April 2012
2011 November
Tuesday 22nd November from 7.15pm 990 Great North Road Western Springs
End of Year Function – Mulled wine to start, then
A quick AGM – calling for nominations – please give some thought to joining our committee.
Pot Luck Dinner – please bring a savoury dish (instead of a sweet plate)
After Dinner – a presentation from Clevedon County Garden tools – fruit pickers, pole loppers, pruning saws, secateurs.
Website: www.clevedoncounty.com
2011 October
Tuesday 25th October from 7.15pm
Auckland Horticultural 990 Great North Road Western Springs
Carol Downer – An introduction to Beekeeping. A past President of the Auckland Beekeepers club with 10 years experience.
2011 September
Tuesday 27th September from 7.15pm.
Auckland Horticultural Centre 990 Great North Road Western Springs.
Betsy Kettle speaking on Dung Beetles – “The introduction of dung beetles is expected to enhance soil biodiversity and increase the numbers of other beneficial organisms such as earthworms as well as reduce the incidence of infective stages of livestock diseases in pastures.”
Saturday 24th September, Grafting Workshop, 9am sharp – 12.30.
Auckland Horticultural Centre 990 Great North Road Western Springs.
Bring a fixed blade knife and a pair of secateurs. Rootstock and scion wood for apples and pears will be available.
2011 August
Tuesday night 23rd August 2011
1st grafting session for the season- with plums and other early blossoming species, one table of grafters grafting for the club stock and another table of learners being taught by our best skilled knife hands! Come and learn the skills. Bring a fixed blade knife (Stanley Knife is good) and a pair of secateurs. If you have some good scion wood please bring it along. We ask that members, who are able, please come along and graft up plants for our club’s stock.
2011 July
Tuesday night 26th July 2011 Still to be arranged.
2011 June
Tuesday night 28th June 2011
Mulled wine to start, then
Pot luck Dinner please bring a Savoury Dish (instead of a sweet plate).
After Dinner – Panel Debate - within our club we have an extraordinary breadth and depth of knowledge and experience and also a range of strongly held beliefs – which make for great debate. A few of our members will be asked to be on a panel. There will be some prepared subjects, but bring along some of your own.
2011 May
Tuesday night 24th May 2011
Tamarillos - Ian Newton from Taumata Orchard will tell us of the varieties available, pests and diseases, nutrition, and other requirements for production.
2011 April
Tuesday night 26th April 2011
All about Figs - Vicky Mee from Franklin developed a commercial orchard back in 2004 with, initially, 300 trees. Vicky will tell us about her venture and the techniques of espaliering and pruning.
1-3 April 2011; NZ TREECROP ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE - Edible Landscapes
A celebration of diversity across our Hawke's Bay region
2011 February
Tuesday night 22nd February 2011
Tonight we are going to have an Apple tasting night. Rob and Murray have offered to bring along an assortment from their vast apple orchard, and tell us about using a refractometer to test the quality of fruits. If there is an apple you particularly like, we may be able to procure scion wood for our next grafting day for you. Also, bring samples of your apples as well, so we can discover new favorites or identify them.
Sunday 13th February 2011 –1.30pm
Mark and Louise’s property, Scenic Drive. Titirangi (Just up from Shaw road – Titirangi end).
Come and hear all about Macadamias. There will someone from the Macadamia Society to give us a talk, and Mark will give us a demonstration on hulling & cracking the nuts. Also, this is your chance to see the Soil Aerator in operation.
Season's Greetings!
2010 November
Tuesday night 23rd November 2010
Mulled wine to start, then
A quick AGM – Calling for nominations. Please give some thought to volunteering to join our committee.
Pot luck Dinner please bring a Savoury Dish (instead of a sweet plate).
After Dinner – Trivia night (along similar lines to a very successful event at the Franklin Branch) this promises to be a light hearted evening as we scratch our heads over rounds of questions from our Trivia master, Locky Carmichael.
Will be lots of fun, with prizes to win.
2010 October
Tuesday night 26th October 2010
The Kai Rakau Project. The name reflects food (Kai) eaten from trees (Rakau). Come and hear two very enthusiastic people who will tell us about their vision and progress in establishing a New Zealand heritage fruit and nut tree collection in Paremoremo, pertinent to our region. They particularly wish to have your input as to what is relevant.
Members – Read our October Newsletter
2010 September
Tuesday 28th September 2010
Alex Rae – “My life as a nurseryman” – some interesting facts about plants and ideas on propagation from a man who has spent his whole life with plants.
Saturday 25th September - 9am sharp - 12:30
Grafting Workshop - this time, to be held at the Auckland Horticultural Centre - Tuesday night meeting place. There will be a quick morning tea for those who want to stop. Bring a fixed blade knife (Stanley Knife is good) and a pair of secateurs. There will be practised grafters ready to show you how to graft - and there will be willow for you to practise on. We will have some heritage scion wood and will be grafting on to M793 (a Northern Spy derivative) and M26, a semi-dwarfing rootstock for the apples, and quince rootstock for the pears. We are trying to procure some plum rootstock. If you have some good scion wood please bring it along. We ask that members, who are able, please come along and graft up plants for our club's stock.
2010 August
Tuesday 24th August 2010
Mike Manning from Plant & Food Research will talk at our August meeting on the relationship between plants, their environment and disease.
2010 July
Tuesday 27th July 2010
Bernie Lovett will talk on turf aeration, with the use of a unique NZ made machine, which allows water to drain & oxygen to reach the root zone of shrubs and trees.
2010 June
Tuesday Evening 22nd June 2010 - Mid Year Pot luck Dinner –
Please bring a Savoury Dish (instead of a sweet plate).
After Dinner Speaker: Reg Lewthwaite - ‘Soil carbon and other irrelevancies’
The latest environmental panic is about carbon and its effect on global warming. They say we can save the world by the way we manage the soil. What’s the big deal! How much carbon can we sequester? How real are its benefits and will it help us make our awful soils better? Why do they get satisfaction from making us feel guilty?
2010 May
Tuesday Evening 25th May 2010
Geoff Smith, Master student of Biological Agriculture – will cover a number of subtopics and will be guided with questions from the floor for specifics.
Saturday 15th May 2010 - Pruning fruit trees. 1pm start.
Derek Craig, a Heritage Gardener at Howick Historic Village, and one of our own members, will show you the basic pruning techniques with lots of discussion. Bring along loppers and pruning saws for a supervised hands-on experience.
Venue: at Barbara's place, Blockhouse Bay Road, Blockhouse Bay.
Northland Branch(es)?
COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU !
A SERIES OF FASCINATING EVENTS (WHICH UP TILL NOW YOU HAVEN’T HAD THE TIME, INCLINATION OR PETROL MONEY TO ATTEND )Well fellow treecroppers, the time has arrived to change all that, with your help and input. A steering committee has been formed to resurrect a branch or branches for Northland (yes, from Wellsford to the Cape) with the intention of having local field trips/workshops/guest speakers.
Our first meeting will be a social event to introduce ourselves, share ideas and get a committee together.
WHEN: Saturday 8th May, 12.30 pm
WHERE: Kauri hall, Apotu Road, RD1 (10 mins south of Hikurangi, 10 mins north of Kamo) right by the bridge.
BBQ lunch: sausages and bread supplied, tea/coffee available. Anything you can bring will be appreciated.
RSVP: To thundermountain at clear dot net dot nz
Members – Read our May Newsletter
2010 April
Tuesday 27th April 2010
The December TreeCropper article on 1080 (Editor's Opinion) has generated email discussion, and as possums are a problem for most of us tree croppers it is topical! To present the other side we have invited Sandra Jack from DOC to speak on this topic from their perspective.
2010 March
2010 March 25th ~ 28th —
2010 NZTCA NATIONAL CONFERENCE - Christchurch - more details...
Tuesday 23rd March 2010
Planning and Planting for a Carbon Neutral Future in New Zealand.
Talk by Dr Colleen Jamieson. Colleen has worked at top international laboratories in both marine and freshwater science as a guest scientist. Before this she worked as a consultant ecologist for DOC on endangered grasshoppers and beetles in Central Otago. She is currently interested in the application of philosophical and ecological principles to farms and lifestyle blocks. We are very fortunate to have Colleen travel down from Maungaturoto to speak to us.
Saturday/Sunday 13th & 14th March 2010
Kumeu Show – We need volunteers for organisation and help on our stall. Please contact David Colley with offers.
2010 February
Sunday 28th February 2010 (11 pm start)
Field day North
Russell Fransham Subtropicals (check out the website www.subtropical.co.nz and the great article in the December TreeCropper) Located at Earthsea Rise, off Clements Road, Matapouri Bay, Northland. Approximately 40 minutes from Whangarei, drive to Tutukaka and follow the signs to Matapouri Bay. Clements Road is the first on the left past the Matapouri general store.
Bring your own cut lunch, cup & teabag – hot water will be available. After lunch we will go just down the road to Tawapou Coastal Natives, which is beautifully laid out amid mature landscaped grounds and one of the country's best native nurseries. Their website: www.tawapou.co.nz is an appetizer! You will be very impressed with the nursery, the pro-active conservation work of local plants and waterways as well as breeding extremely rare offshore island natives. Coffee, cake and cookies are available here.
Tuesday 23rd February 2010
Signing of the Charitable Trust.
Designed to develop collections of Fruit and Nut trees in perpetuity. Our own National President Murray Redpath will be present, along with representatives from other organisations. Murray will then give a talk on “The value of NZ’s hazelnut genetic resource.”
Saturday 13th February 2010 (1.30pm)
Budding Workshop Afternoon
To be held at the property of Mark and Louise - Scenic Drive Titirangi (Just up from Shaw road - Titirangi end). If you wish to leave early it may pay to park on the roadside as the cars down the drive will be blocked in. Another option for parking is to park at Brian’s property (Carter Road) and walk through the trees to Mark & Louise’s property.
Bring a fixed blade knife (Stanley Knife is good) and a pair of secateurs. We will have practised budders ready to show you how to bud - and will have willow for you to practise on. Apple, plum & maybe citrus (trifoliata) will be available.
Saturday 6th February 2010 (1.30pm)
Field day South - Our first gathering for the year
Property of Priscilla & Edward - Otau Mountain Road Clevedon.
Come see the progress, and identify some trees – Edward says the person to identify the most will get a bottle of wine! Directions: - From Clevedon, drive towards Kawakawa Bay, then approximately 1 km on, right turn into McNicol Road (beside historic homestead). Otau Mountain Road is approximately 2 kms on the left. The property is approximately 5 km, on the left, along a long winding narrow steep road (keep going 'til you think you’ve gone too far and then go a bit further – the views are worth it when you get there.)
2009 October
Tuesday 27th October 2009
Val Henderson from The SoapNut Shop will talk to us about Soap Nuts, which are a safe, non-allergenic and environmentally friendly cleaning solution for you and your family. Val will bring in some seedlings she has raised to show us. Seeds and product available for sale – could this be an interesting tree crop venture?
2009 September
Saturday 19th 12th September 2009, 10 am
Grafting Workshop and shared Lunch. To be held at Mark's and Louise's property - Scenic Drive Titirangi (Just up from Shaw road - Titirangi end)
Bring a fixed blade knife (Stanley Knife is good) and a pair of secateurs. We will have practised grafters ready to show you how to graft - and will have willow for you to practise on.
Bring food for a shared lunch, or meat for BBQ. We will have some heritage scion wood and will be grafting on to M793 (a Northern Spy derivative) and M26, a semi-dwarfing rootstock for the apples, and quince rootstock for the pears.
Mark and Louise are now storing the club's Macadamia nut cracker – there will be the opportunity to see it in action.
Tuesday 22nd September 2009
Jack Hobbs – Group Manager, Auckland Botanic Gardens "Surviving a lifestyle block" – Jack will tell us about his successes and failures on his five acre lifestyle block.
2009 August
Tuesday 25th August 2009
Houshang Hasan – Many of you will remember Mr Hasan speaking about the pioneering work he is doing with Avocados. We are thrilled to have him back speaking this time on the "life experiences of a plant enthusiast". Not to be missed.
2009 June
Tuesday 23rd June 2009
Mid Year Pot luck Dinner – when considering your food offering please consider a Savoury Dish (instead of a sweet plate). Our End of Year Dinner with this format was a great success.
After Dinner Speaker: - Pauline Isaachsen the bamboo specialist in Oratia will give a talk on the varieties and uses of bamboo.
2009 May
Tuesday 26th May 2009
Brian Quinn will give a powerpoint presentation on MAF's – Plant Health & Environment Laboratory located here in Auckland. This will include some of the services they offer at the lab and more specifically around the importation of high-value crops and provision of post-entry quarantine space and subsequent testing and diagnosis of plants in PEQ.
2008 November
A quick AGM will be combined this year with our Christmas celebration on Tuesday 25th November.
Please give some thought to volunteering to join our committee, you would be warmly welcomed.
2008 October
October - Tuesday night, October 28th, 7:30pm.
"Come and hear Dr Robert Mann, NZ's senior scientific critic of genetic manipulation (GM). He will be telling us of the latest developments in GM Trees, and other GM organisms that may affect orchardists, both here in New Zealand and overseas" - Background reading...
October - Saturday 4th (10 am) – Grafting Workshop and shared Lunch. To be held at property of Mark and Louise - Scenic Drive Titirangi (Just up from Shaw road - Titirangi end)
Bring a fixed blade knife (Stanley Knife is good) and a pair of secateurs. We will have practised grafters ready to show you how to graft - and will have willow for you to practise on.
Bring food for a shared lunch, or meat for BBQ. We will have some heritage scion wood and will be grafting on to M793 (a Northern Spy derivative) and M26, a semi-dwarfing rootstock for the apples, and quince rootstock for the pears. We are trying to procure some plum rootstock.
October – Sunday 19th (11.00am) Hosts Val & Wayne, Tangihua Road Maungakaramea. Field Day & Social. A good opportunity for some of our members from further north to attend one of our events. Val & Wayne grow a variety of fruit crops including plums and feijoas on their “lifestyle” property south of Whangarei. They are also experimenting with native & exotic timber trees and have some very useful advice on growing apricots in Northland. Bring something for a shared lunch (there is a barbeque available & we will be providing some sausages). Time permitting, there are one or two additional properties of interest which we may be able to visit in the afternoon.
2008 September
September - Tues 23rd – Panel night – We have the opportunity to ask questions of some of our most knowledgeable members – bring along those curly queries. (If you can’t attend – please email any questions to a committee member before the night). This will be an informative and fun night.
2008 August
August - Tues 26th
Latest jatropha News: Wednesday 4th June: “Air NZ goes nuts for experimental biofuel. The National Carrier has announced it will use oil from jatropha nuts to fuel a test flight this year- the first of its kind using a sustainable biofuel with……”
Come and hear Bernie Pavitt tell you about this plant now in New Zealand.
2008 July
July – Tuesday 22nd – "Planning and growing an Orchard" by Rob Velseboer.
Some of you were lucky enough to go to Rob and Murray's place last year on a field trip, so will know what a wealth of information Rob has to share!
Auckland Horticultural Centre, 990 Great North Road, Western Springs.
July – Sunday 20th – combined workshop with the Franklin Branch on Hazelnuts.
The workshop is going to be given by our National President Murray Redpath who is an authority on the subject.
Don and Margaret, Blackbridge Rd, Karaka are to host the field day. They have a row of hazels badly in need of pruning and welcome expertise in showing how to go about it. Many people also interested in general care of hazels and pollination in this area. They have a large shed which can be used if the weather is bad and we switch to Plan B (showing your Powerpoint presentation).
It is going ahead regardless of the weather.
2008 June
Saturday 28 June, 9.30am Kaukapakapa Hall - Tane's Tree Trust
Lower North Farm forestry invite NZTCA members interested in establishing or
nurturing native forest, any size, to attend a seminar run by Tane's Tree
Trust. Complimentary lunch.
June - Tuesday 24th – Midwinter dinner – Bring along all those usual treecropping concoctions. Our after dinner speaker will be Selby Gouldstone. The talk will take the format of a question and answer time. Author of "Guide to food bearing plants", some of you will know of Selby as "the nut man" - a well known tree enthusiast of the 70's and 80's. Selby's knowledge spans from Chinese vegetables to Truffles, to stem cell grafting of Advocados.
Auckland Horticultural Centre, 990 Great North Road, Western Springs.
2008 May
May Tues 27th, 7.30pm - Bronwen Rowse - Propagation and Hardwood cuttings - come to hear and see how it is done! Your opportunity to ask lots of questions.
Auckland Horticultural Centre, 990 Great North Road, Western Springs.
2008 April
April Tues 22nd, 7.30pm – Ray Weaver – Wallaby damage on Kawau Island and the threat to the New Zealand ecology should they not be eradicated. This talk is going to be followed up with a trip, later this year, to see first hand and also to see some recovering forest.
2008 March
March Tues 25th, 7.30pm – Julie Craig "A glut of Apples" - some ways to process the surplus. Also, a chance to compare apples with apples! Bring along your apples for comparison and tasting.
March Sun 16th, 1.30pm – Mark's and Louise's Property, Scenic Drive, Titirangi (just up from Shaw Road – Titirangi end). Come and see their Nashi, Persimmons, Macadamias and bees.
2008 February
February Tues 26th, 7.30pm – Greg Morgan from Winequip – Basic procedures for wine making and products available
2007 April 13-15th Tree Crops Association National Conference, Unitec, Mt Albert
2006 November
- When:
- Tues 28th November, 7.30 pm
- What:
- Xmas Pot luck Dinner
- Where:
- Auckland Horticultural Centre, 990 Great North Road, Western Springs.
- Details:
- Bring a plate to share
- When:
- November 14-19
- What:
- Ellerslie Flower Show, but branch participation has been cancelled
2006 October
- When:
- Tues 24th October, 7.30pm
- What:
- Talk by Ian Gordon on Cherimoyas.
- Where:
- Auckland Horticultural Centre, 990 Great North Road, Western Springs.
- Details:
- Meeting - Ian has worked with cherimoya for many years and has insights into the crops development in NZ and potential. Sampling is definitely on the menu.
2006 September
- When:
- September 28th, 7.30pm
- What:
- (To be advised)
- Where:
- Auckland Horticultural Centre, 990 Great North Road, Western Springs.
- Details:
- Meeting -
- When:
- Sun 17th September, 10.30am
- What:
- Co-visit with Organics group, Whangarei
- Where:
- Beasley Rd R D 1 Onerahi WHANGAREI - will be signs posted.
- Details:
- Field Trip - Two talks before lunch then tour of property. A mixed crop property with an interest in passionfruit.
Directions - take the road from Whangarei through the suburb of Onerahi and get onto to the road to Whangarei Heads/Pataua South. After about 12 or 15 minutes you will come to the Parua Bay Garage on your left with the Parua Bay Primary School on your right. Continue on the road heading to Pataua South. About 5.5 km past the Parua Bay Garage is Beasley Road - the sealed road takes a 90 degree left turn but you continue straight ahead into Beasley Rd. Approximately 800 metres up the road on the right is my property # 78 - there you drive up off the road & follow the driveway to the house.
- When:
- Sat 9th September
- What:
- Grafting Day.
- Where:
- Old North Rd Waimauku - will be signs posted.
- Details:
- Field day - Grafting Day. Bring a fixed blade knife (Stanley Knife is good)
2006 August
- When:
- Tues 22th August, 7.30pm
- What:
- Mike Manning - Orchard design to eliminate fungus disease
- Where:
- Auckland Horticultural Centre, 990 Great North Road, Western Springs
- Details:
- Mike (Hortresearch) works with kiwifruit & grapes. By good design of shelterbelts and crop architecture Mike has saved the kiwi fruit industry millions of dollars each year in spray costs and fruit loss.
- When:
- Sat 19th August, 10.30am
- What:
- Tour of Unitecs’ Hortecology Sanctuary
- Where:
- Unitecs School of Natural Sciences - will be signs posted.
- Details:
- Tour of Unitecs’ Hortecology Sanctuary by Manager Richard Main. Have a look around Unitecs School of Natural Sciences teaching gardens & orchards plus vertical composting system. Meet outside Natural Sciences Building (Bldg 23). Enter Unitec at Entrance 3 off Carrington Rd. Proceed down Farm Rd, turn right past sports field carry on to Bldg 23 and greenhouses.
2006 July
- When:
- Tues 25th July, 7.30pm
- What:
- Talk by Houshang A-Hasan of AvoPro
- Where:
- Auckland Horticultural Centre, 990 Great North Road, Western Springs.
- Details:
- Hasan produces multiple grafted avocados and potted avocado plants that fruit in three years. Hear how this business was developed.
2006 Annual Conference of NZ Tree Crops Association
'Cultivating Biodiversity', Masterton, Wairarapa, 2006 April 7-9
2005
[no details submitted, but see Event listings in Events Nationwide]
About Us
The Northern Region Branch of New Zealand Tree Crops Association covers the region from greater Auckland north to Cape Reinga.