The really odd orchard
When two scientists decided to plant an all-yearround-eating orchard on their Waikato block, they chose to grow the usual, and the really unusual.
15 of the strangest fruits from an odd Waikato orchard
Ask most block owners what’s in their orchard, and you’ll likely hear a familiar list: apples, peaches, lemons, citrus. Annette Ah Chee and Roland Stenger will pull out their carefully annotated spreadsheet, meticulously updated with 315 varieties of more than 50 different fruit and nut trees. Their property west of Hamilton is above what was once a peat lake. It has a fantastic view extending over the town, encompassing three mountains: Mt Pirongia, Mt Te Aroha, and Mt Maungatautari. The deck around the house is the perfect spot to enjoy the scenery, but that’s not what Annette and Roland are doing on their weekends.
They have turned 10ha of clay soil into a Garden of Eden. Their block grows just about every fruit and nut tree that thrives in the Waikato, and several that aren’t supposed to cope with the climate.
The couple wanted a block where they could eat fruit, all year-round. Twenty years after they started, they can pick something fresh and spray-free every day.
The soil
When they compare the growth rate of their trees with those in free-draining soil, Roland says it’s evident that many of their trees suffer. Their clay soil gets very wet over winter.
“We make sure to apply sufficient calcium through lime and gypsum to maintain or even improve the soil structure, but that’s not enough.
“The clay soils are a particular problem for our avocados (Hass). Several grafted ones purchased over the years have survived for two or three years, but then succumbed to the water-logged conditions we often experience in winter.”
They tried planting into raised mounds of soil on slopes with better drainage, but it didn’t make a difference. They decided to try something more radical.
“We’re currently trialling stacks made from three car tyres filled with a freedraining topsoil-compost mixture,” says Roland. “The first results are promising, but the free-draining soil volume is rather limited so only time will tell.”
The nutrition
The couple did soil tests at the start to get a basic understanding of the fertility of their block. They’ve found their different orchard areas vary in terms of soil fertility, as do the requirements of the different species.
“Consequently, we’ve adopted a fairly basic, middle-of-the-road regime using standard NPKS fertiliser and lime,” says Roland. “Nutrients are also introduced to some orchard areas through the pellets and grains fed to our ducks, and the chicken poo from the chook house.
“Having said that, I fear our citrus trees are generally under-fertilised.”
The maintenance
Annette is the pruner. It helps that her day job with Plant and Food Research focuses on the biological control of plant disease.
Each tree is meticulously shaped, with open canopies to allow airflow and light penetration. It’s a big factor in combating the fungal diseases that thrive in Waikato’s humidity.
Prunings are removed, fruit thinned. Orchard hygiene protocols are strict. Even on a casual stroll, Roland is plucking inferior fruit and picking up any that have fallen prematurely, which he later feeds to the poultry, bugs and all.
Being the pruner leads to a problem for Annette. Every time she comes back from a session, her already-crowded shade and plastic houses get a little more cramped.
“You just have all these cuttings….” she says in justification at all her plant material and seeds.
What isn’t propagated is fed out to the sheep (as long as it’s not poisonous – most plants aren’t, says Annette). Any remaining wood is used as fuel for their wood burners or mulched and returned to the soil.
Roland is the weeder. Instead of glyphosate spray, he uses a couple of Niwashi tools to clear weeds and grass from around trees and fence lines. The poultry and sheep do most of the work, but the couple will mow in spring to keep the grass under control. TOP LEFT: Diversity is the key to a good ecosystem, so this block has a lot more than just fruit trees. The slope above their water supply is a forest of firewood trees, mainly Eucalyptus fastigata, also known as Brown Barrel. It’s a large, fast-growing tree tolerant of clay soil and cold sites. It produces large volumes of wood, more per hectare than many other types of eucalyptus.
THE COUPLE’S HOME HAS STUNNING VIEWS, BUT THEY’RE USUALLY TOO BUSY TO SIT AND LOOK AT IT