| Conference |
"All of the properties visited on this trip are along one short road in the small settlement of Aokautere, on Highway 57 near Palmerston North. Adjacent to each other are Harrisons Trees Nursery, Hort Research, the Central Districts hazel nut trial on Hort Research land and one of the walnut trial blocks established on IHC land as part of the Great Nut Hunt in the early years of the Association's existence."
"Adjacent to HortResearch property is one of the walnut trial blocks established very early in the life of the Tree Crops Association. Members will be able to see how particular varieties have performed in the damper West Coast climates..."
The IHC block has been largely neglected in recent years, being mostly used for grazing livestock. Many walnut trees have endured and even thrived.
The hazelnut rows have grown into a tall dense thicket, but the nuts have obviously just kept on tumbling down.
We examined some HortResearch trials we were passing by.
"Next door to Harrisons Trees, on Hort Research land, is the well-established Central Districts hazelnut trial block. The trial has provided useful data on the performance of a selection of cultivars growing in the mild, humid West Coast North Island climate."
 |
"Members on this trip will have an opportunity to participate in the trial by collecting the nuts from any one of the trees. Once they have been weighed and recorded they are yours to take away."
"While at the hazelnut trial block site members will also have the opportunity to inspect some of the various shelter belt systems established by Hort Research over the years. These magnificent shelter belts have been grown using a number of species and have been trimmed regularly to a strict regime to produce shelter that is high, effective and economical of land."
An amenity mix of trees growing around some outbuildings included some majestic black walnuts.
"The Central Districts branch has developed a special relationship with Vern Harrison of Harrison Trees at Aokautere. Vern, one of the founding members of the New Zealand Tree Crops Association, operates a commercial nursery propagating large numbers of deciduous fruit and nut trees plus a range of ornamentals. Trees are sold the length and breadth of New Zealand."
"Vern recognised that some of the popular commercial fruit varieties that had been bred to produce fruit that met tight commercial specifications for colour, storage and shelf life, sweetness and size were not easy for gardeners and block owners to grow successfully. He realised that there was a market for fruit trees that were less demanding in their care than some of the standard commercial varieties now offered for sale in garden centres. It was also realised that outside the small group of gardeners familiar with old varieties there was general ignorance of the existence of hundreds of varieties not commonly offered for sale. To educate the public to the possibilities that existed and to establish a direct relationship with his customers, the decision was made to retail the trees direct to the public through an informative annual catalogue."
In the Organic Orchard were planted about 240 trees. Any varieties proving to be unsuitable get replaced by new trial varieties.
"A search for acceptable easy care fruit varieties began. As promising cultivars were located they were planted out in a corner of the nursery and managed under an organic regime to assess their performance in an easy care environment. Over the years there have been some exciting finds but also many disappointments as cultivars that show initial promise fail in some vital aspect of performance."
Kay's enthusiasm was torn between explaining and tasting.
"Heirloom fruit varieties collected by Kay Baxter, principally from northem areas, are now also propagated and sold from Aokautere. Kay's trees have extended the range of trees already held."
Vern showed us and explained a bewilderingly varied selection of his work; including a block of nothing but figs...
"Central Districts branch members soon realised that an interesting and valuable collection of fruit trees was being developed in their own district and began to visit the collection. This has now become an annual visit with the hardest decision being whether to visit early in the season to see and sample the stone fruit or visit later to catch the pip fruit. With a helping hand from Mother Nature, and good cool storage, members should get the best of both worlds - some stored stone fruit and fresh pip fruit. You will even get the opportunity to meet the small gaggle of Chinese Weeder geese employed to satisfy their voracious appetites by eating their way through the grass and herbal leys that cover the orchard floor."
It ia always surprising the depth of specialised experience that tree croppers have about livestock, and some feathery stories provided a brief interlude from trees.
"The Central Districts branch has over a number of years initiated a series of trials to assess the performance of a few of the more promising varieties. Currently growing on members properties are Luisa plums, Kerigold peaches, Sugar Prunes and mulberries. Most are still young trees so performance on the varied sites within Central Districts has yet to be fully determined."
The Harrisons set out a special display of selected fruit so we could identify the flesh colours, textures... and even taste many of them -
Also welcoming us was Sarah Frater who now operates 'Edible Garden', taking over the retail catalogue from Vern and Erica Harrison. Sarah worked at Harrisons Trees for 7 years, managed the organic trial area and the Retail Mail order catalogue while there, and helped to host many TCA field days.
A hot drink was a most welcome finale to an inspiring day attempting to comprehend years of trial and tribulation, and braced our weary souls for the bus trip back to Wanganui.
Many thanks to our organisers, guides and hosts, for a fulfilling experience!
"Quoted commentary is from the Field Trip Notes"
Editor - Les Gruebner
| Conference | Top |
http://www.treecrops.org.nz/bydate/conf02/nursers/nurstour.html
Created: 11/June/2002 - Updated: 2004 September 05