Contents
- Introduction (below)
- Full details – Accommodation, speakers, program, field trips
- Register Online - ideal if you use internet banking
- OR, Registration Forms (two images to print out, fill in and post):
page 1; page 2 - may take a few moments to download.
OR use the registration centrefold from your TreeCropper 56
Introduction
The Wellington/Horowhenua Branch accepted the challenge of organizing the conference in 2009.
The organising committee is making very good progress with its planning.
The venue is Tatum Park which is an ideal central location for our proposed site visits in the Te Horo, Otaki and Levin regions.
The branch committee has set up an excellent, energetic, committee, with Ray Hollis as Convenor, Eric and Annette Cairns, Ngaire Bennie, Rose Boyle, Peter McDonald, Rod Smith, and Christine Fallen. Others will join the committee soon. Running the conference will require many more people than this. Offers of help from branch members, are needed and we welcome further volunteers. Please contact Ray or any other organising committee members if you would like to help us run a successful conference and showcase the very best of what our branch can offer visitors to the region.
We have confirmed visits to a tamarillo orchard, an olive grove that has produced award-wining oil, a state of the art olive press, organic properties (plums, feijoas, figs, dessert grapes) and an organic winery. Other visits on the list will include figs, feijoas, walnuts, gevuina, and hazels. Other planned visits will focus on conservation, a compost field trial, the propagation of selected plants (e.g. grapes and olives) and the commercial side of processing. We also want attendees to learn from property owners how they manage their crops -including the machinery they use.
The programme will include plenary sessions and technical sessions dealing with a range of areas of interest to treecroppers. This includes: Marketing your products, Research on new varieties, Post harvest treatment of crops, Karakas, Plant breeding, Plant hunting in NZ and overseas, Frost protection and control.
Running through the sessions and field trips will be the themes of: plants- growing for the future, processing - from field to plate, people- those who are going to eat. The conference will have many opportunities for networking and socializing. Tatum is well set up in this respect. Apart from the dining and bar areas, there is a magical "pit" where a BBQ is planned, plus entertainment for the Friday evening (don't forget to bring your foot tappers and dancing shoes). You can also expect a local produce competition, the annual Saturday dinner and auction, and an entertaining dinner speaker.
Accommodation at Tatum (which has around 35 acres of bush and fields) is well set up for those requiring budget accommodation or a site for the caravan or campervan. It used to be owned by Scouting New Zealand. Otherwise there are plenty of motels in Levin and Otaki only 10 minutes north or south from Tatum Park on State Highway One.
Ray Hollis, Conference Convenor
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