For Raglan sustainable gardener Sydney Allen, the key to producing the best tasting vegetables with low environmental impact is all in the soil.
Just last year, she and partner Daryl Atwell took over a plot of land on a friend’s farm and the pair are slowly transforming it into a productive market garden.
Located in Waitetuna, Sunrise Farms is a labour of love; they both work fulltime – Sydney as a rose gardener at Hamilton Gardens and Daryl is a plumber/drainlayer – and a tonne of their spare time is spent tending the plot.
“When she says us on her Facebook posts, it’s 80 per cent Sydney doing the work. She probably spends 20 hours a week here,” Daryl says.
The opportunity to utilise a patch previously used for grazing sheep and cattle on the Richard family’s block was the kickstart to their market garden enterprise.
A lot of time went into getting the original clay soil up to scratch. The Richards went in with a tractor to clear the land and after that everything else has been done by hand.
Sydney only works the top layer of soil so as not to disturb the deeper rich microbial life. The crops are rotated, and between crops she plants mustard and lupins to increase the soil health.
She learnt her craft while working for Shannon Wright at her organic regenerative farm Backyard Jem in Ngāruawāhia.
“We wanted to follow the same practice, with no sprays and focusing on soil health. If you feed your soil, you feed your plants, then you don’t need to put any chemicals in,” Sydney says.
They offer a harvest box of seasonal vegetables for a weekly subscription of $30 or $50.
“Our larger one is suitable for families or very keen vego eaters,” she says.
“We said from the beginning, we want our veggies to be as fresh, organic and affordable as possible.”
To keep costs low and to be as sustainable as possible, they make their own compost, organic fertiliser, and just about everything else, like their humble greenhouse, has been built on the smell of an oily rag.
Sydney is passionate about reducing food miles and says it can be a challenge for some people expecting summer vegetables during the winter.
“We are trying to close the gap between people and their food.”
Building genuine relationships with their customers is important part of what they offer; they do the deliveries themselves after a Saturday harvest and it’s a good time to chat about the farm and the produce.
“One of our lovely customers is always excited when she gets her box because she says it’s helped her cook differently with the mix of seasonal vegetables she wouldn’t necessarily buy at the supermarket.”
Sydney is also keen to start sharing gardening tips and recipe ideas on the farm’s Facebook page.
While it hasn’t been all smooth gardening at Sunrise, with Mother Nature providing some costly lessons, the couple haven’t let it dampen their spirits.
“There’s been so many learning curves. We don’t have any coverage, so that can be a disadvantage in summer and winter. So, you have to learn what works and what doesn’t, and you’ll learn it pretty quick,” Sydney laughs.
To order a harvest vegetable box visit SunRise Farms on Facebook or email sunrisefarm.nz@gmail.com.
by Janine Jackson
