Flower farming on Waiheke Island
A sustainable business blooms.
Christy began the flower farm five years ago after first toying with the idea of market gardening.
In the early morning light, the view from Christy Ralphs’ hillside property across to the calm waters of Owhanake Bay on Waiheke Island is pretty special. Usually accompanied by a chorus of bird song, the dawn vista is quite familiar to Christy who can often be found at this time of day picking blooms in one of her flower fields while her husband Mike Taylor and children Alex, 17, and Melina, 14, still sleep in the house below.
In the cool, soft air she selects the best blooms to be packed up and sent later to local businesses or on the ferry to florists in Auckland. Around her are rows of mostly cottage-y flowers in pastel pinks, blues and whites: snapdragons, poppies, sweet William, Queen Anne’s lace, cornflowers. It’s obvious that Christy delights in their ethereal beauty yet her focus is also on practical issues such as what seed heads to pick for a wreath-making workshop she is running the following day, or whether the statice now coming into flower is the right shade of pink.
Christy and Mike bought their Waiheke property 17 years ago. “I was teaching in Wairoa on the East Coast and looking for somewhere that could provide a lifestyle where we both enjoyed doing what we loved. I grew up on Great Barrier Island and really like small islands and communities. There’s an amazing community here for the size of the population, a vast array of different, eclectic people.”
After moving to the Owhanake property with its small vineyard, they were initially able to make it pay for itself by converting part of the house to provide visitor accommodation. Christy also taught at the local high school part-time, then began running garden workshops teaching locals and visitors a variety of subjects such as how to grow their own food, fruit tree pruning, starting a food forest, even raising productive pets.
She now runs 40 workshops a year as well as the flower farm, and still works at the school, providing floriculture work experience and training for students. “I like being around teenagers. I think they get a really bad rap sometimes.”
She has also always liked growing things, particularly productive plants. “If I do grow an ornamental plant, it preferably should have a medicinal use also. If it’s a tree, it should produce fruit. I always had a vege garden even when I was student. I would work in it rather than study.”
Christy began the flower farm five years ago after first toying with the idea of market gardening. “I was interested in the small scale intensive market gardening movement coming out of the US. Waiheke does not have a secure food supply, particularly if the ferry’s out of action for any reason. But the soil is not great. Getting bulky, heavy supplies freighted to the island is expensive and there’s a lack of water. The price of land and the topography of the island all work against it.”
As it so often does, serendipity stepped in when a friend gave Christy a book about growing flowers outside. The book covered a diverse range of flowers rather than the
In the cool, soft air, Christy Ralphs selects the best blooms to be packed up and sent later to local businesses or put on the ferry for florists in Auckland.
“Because I am a gardener, I like growing things outside. I’m not interested in working in the protected environment of a greenhouse,” Christy explains.
one or two species many New Zealand growers traditionally raise, usually in glasshouses.
Glasshouse cultivation didn’t appeal at all. “Because I am a gardener, I like growing things outside. I’m not interested in working in the protected environment of a greenhouse,” Christy explains. “So, I did a trial, completely impractical, on top of a hill close to the sea with only 10cm soil over solid clay. It worked. That’s the beauty of gardening, it always surprises you. And if it doesn’t work you just scrape back the bed and try something else!”
At first she grew most of her crops from seed but as demand has increased she now contracts some of the growing out to nurseries. “Difficult things with tiny seeds like snapdragons I leave to the professionals. That does mean you get trays of 200 seedlings at a time. A lot of planting out in one go.”
A second larger flower field followed the first one on the hillside, this one closer to the harvest shed.
Although this expansion meant the couple had to face the painful task of removing all the vineyard’s white wine grapes, the decision was a joint one, says Christy. “I knew if I was to grow flowers it had to be more than just a hobby. Luckily, Mike loves flowers.”
When we visit the farm, it’s December and the roses are just finishing their first flush in the second field along with Asiatic lilies. Pineapple lilies (Eucomis) are just starting to bud and newly planted dahlia tubers fill several rows; these perennials are one of her biggest sellers in mid- to late summer. In the hilltop field among the spring-blooming cottage flowers are the new varieties she is trialling, including a purple-brown Queen Anne’s lace called ‘Dara’. Florists are big fans of the funky seed heads it produces, says Christy, who also grows Oriental poppies, three varieties of nigella, and ornamental versions of orach (mountain spinach) for the same reason.
“I enjoy working with people who have the same kind of values, trying to grow in a way that is kinder to the environment,” says Christy.
As we admire a gorgeous dark red scabiosa, she explains that autumn planting is the secret to its tall stems. “The plants put all their energy into establishing roots during autumn and winter, so they develop a good root structure. When it warms up they just go for it. I will plant more now but they will be much shorter.”
Her maintenance regime for all the garden areas is based on sustainability. A fish and seaweed-based organic fertiliser is applied after every crop and she adds an annual layer of compost (most of it homemade using seaweed as well as fruit and vege scraps sourced from one of her customers, the Island Grocer) to all the gardens.
“I also use a mini broadfork to aerate the soil sometimes because it’s clay and can be compacted. I try to get two crops a year out each bed. There’s very little research on managing bugs when growing flowers sustainably so I am having to experiment, try things out. I often use organic products developed for other horticultural industries like kiwifruit.”
The flowers are sold on the island in shops and to local florists, as well as via their self-serve Flower Bar five days a week direct from the large harvest shed she and Mike built to service both their Owhanake Bay Estate vineyard and the flower farm. Increasing demand from Auckland florists has encouraged Christy to form a wholesale collective with seven other local flower growers called Floral Collective Aotearoa which now takes place one morning a week in the city.
“Imported flower stems are often dipped into glyphosate to stop them being able to be propagated, as well as preservatives to make them last longer,” she points out. “These are biosecurity measures. It’s important to ask where the flowers you buy are being grown. Our collective is about being able to offer alternatives. I’ve been visiting other flower growers around the country and we’ve now started an annual conference for people interested in this type of growing.
“I enjoy working with people who have the same kind of values, trying to grow in a way that is kinder to the environment.”
As much as she enjoys growing flowers, Christy also loves the educational side of her business. “I enjoy inspiring people which is why I keep doing the workshops. I like to teach and I like to share, whether it’s flowers, the food forest, the herbs, or the vegetable gardens.”
She finds the challenges of running a small business today interesting, particularly the increased use of social media. “Social media didn’t exist five to 10 years ago, but it has added into the mix a whole new world of connections and possibilities. It makes it endlessly fascinating. I am working on developing a community in New Zealand that is interested in doing similar things to me. Floriculture is under the radar here even though it’s a significant industry. There’s not as much information available as there is for other industries.” ✤
How to visit: For more information about workshops and seasonal tours, go to nourishgarden.com.