Warkworth - Saturday 19 Feb 2005

Southern Paprika Ltd

Our first visit of the day was to Southern Paprika Ltd., just out of Warkworth. Manager Paul Stevenson showed us around. They are growers and exporters of hydroponic capsicum. The company was established about 7 years ago.

This is an extremely large-scale operation with 10 Hectares under glass. 50,000 plants per house. They employ approximately 50 Staff.

The plants are bought in and planted in cocoa peat in June and taken out in mid March.
Water from all the sheds and houses is recycled through a UV machine. There is a 31,000 cubic metre dam on site and a bore for backup. The houses are heated in winter.
The major pests are the western flower thrip and the two spot mite who are controlled by Match and Success and Confidor put through the system.
Fusarium is also a problem.

We were shown their new packing machine, that can pack about 4 to5 tons an hour. That week they had sent out about 100 tons of capsicums, which are checked by MAF on site before transport to the airport.

The scale of operation left us breathless. Definitely has the wow factor. Seemed to have everything in the high tech range.

Mariposa Palm Cafe

Morning Tea stop was at Mariposa Palm Café formerly Leo Rousels Longwood Palms.

Here owner Grant Robinson treated us with magnificent muffins and then guided us around his Palms & Subtropical display. A special tip for Palm propagation – sown under used coffee grounds. The healthy young seedlings were in abundance under the Palm that the café used to empty their coffee pots.

Tumbleweed Coastal Plants

John and Wendy Davies at Tumbleweed Coastal Plants started in the Matakana Village but out grew the site in two years and now have their Garden Centre a short way out of Matakana. They specialise in hardy coastal plants fitted to the region and their garden centre has the feel of the coast and sea with old ropes and chains and dinghies. They also have a large range of concrete garden art, water features, garden furniture and seaside decorations. They also do landscaping and grow plants for their Garden Centre.

Home Fresh

Next we visited Charlie at Home Fresh. Home fresh are growers of Hyroponic lettuce and tomatoes. They were growing Red coral, frill coral, green coral and butter crunch lettuces. They sow their own seed in vermiculite, about 160 trays per week in plugs. The plants spend about 4 weeks in the houses and are then planted out in the pipes in pumice. There they stay for 4 wks in summer or 12 weeks covered in plastic in winter. No tomatoes were being grown at the time as they had problems with white fly. They use bore water which is cleaned by an ozone water cleaner and is pumped up to the top of the sloping property where it gravity feeds to the bottom. They use a dosmatic to regulate the fertilizer. They have a staff 8-16, Sell through there own shop and send produce to Auckland and to local cafes.

Glen Dougal Nursery

We were welcomed by Doug Alley and his two faithful dogs, for a look around his nursery and landscaped acres. Doug is a very sincere gentleman with many a story to tell. He obviously enjoyed having company and showing us the areas he has developed over many years. The Nursery of trees and shrubs had been a source of selection for the local land developers. Time and technology were obvious by their absence.

Special thanks to Brian for organizing such a substantial lunch. We all enjoyed our picnic under the trees overlooking the lily pond. Doug then showed us around the property which he has developed with large lily ponds and walkways. He has spent a lifetime of hard toil, done the hard way.

Exotica

We started the afternoon with visits to two small scale specialist nurseries. I heard the words unique and “lifestyle” used by several members. The first visit was Exotica and yes Shirley perhaps “Erotica” for the Bromeliad lovers. Andrew Steen (some may have known Andrew under his previous venture Mauao Flowers) grows NZ’s largest selection of Bromeliads (2,500 – 3,000 varieties) on just one acre. This includes the tasteful background of large trees, Palms, driftwood and rock sculpture – a feature of a well remembered display at the 2004 Ellerslie Flower Show.

They do have a glasshouse facility at Point Wells and much to Andrews’ wife’s disgust, they also use the three upstairs bedrooms of their settler style house to grow Bromeliads. The wide range of varieties suit different conditions – full shade to full sun. Some IPPS members observed that too much sun, burns the edges of many varieties. Many Bromeliads only flower once, then produce pups. Most of the varieties are for scientific evaluation and re-production. One particular Bromeliad at the gate with a bright red centre was especially memorable.

We are grateful to Karen who showed us around in the absence of Andrew.

The Protea Patch

This Nursery is a specialist producer and wholesaler / retailer with a mail order facility as well. Tony White and Wendy Marshall together with Sharon (previous owner for some 13-14 years, and now working part time as propagator), produce around 60 varieties of Proteacea.

Proteas have a unique dual root system – wide spreading anchor roots for the natural arid desert environment and secondary small bulb like roots to store water and nutrients for growth and / or to survive drought periods.

Supposedly there are not texts describing Proteacea propagation. Some key requirements are :-
1. Propagation timing – this season is running about 2 months late.
2. Plant vigor.
3. Expert assessment of propagating material – by eye.
4. Lifting of cuttings.
5. Patience.

The Protea Patch propagate nine months of the year using “old school” techniques and no bottom heat. It was a pleasure to observe the effective “new member techniques” of our president Grant Hayman.

Morris & James

A welcome afternoon tea break at Morris and James Pottery, Tileworks and Café. The beverages and home made cakes were a delight. The individually hand crafted pottery and unique glazes and textures emptied some pockets, including mine.

Hyperion Wines

We finished the day in style at the boutique “old cowshed” winery – HYPERION WINES. Hyperion reminds me of a small French winery with its beautiful pastoral environs – a great choice Brian.

The Bordeaux style 2002 Cabernot / Merlot / Malbec was my choice, but all the wines are a good example of their style. The vineyard has 6,000 vines planted over about 2.5 hectares and produces around 1,000 cases of wine annually.

John and Jill Crone experience significant price pressures from tax (excess of $2.20 / litre or $1.60 per 750 ml bottle + GST) as well as supermarkets dominating retail sales with wines from other countries – principally Australia and Chile.

John says the ‘jury is still out” on screw caps (easy to open) versus corks. There is newer cork technology using cork pieces in the core which provides more control of cork quality.

Finally it was very interesting to hear of IPPS member experiences from previous IPPS field trips. All those present agreed this was an excellent day out. Thanks Brian.

ITINERARY

• 8.15 am Meet at Walton Park Motor Lodge, 2 Walton Ave, Warkworth
• 8.30 am Bus leaves Walton Park
• Southern Paprika – state of the art paprika producer
• Mariposa Palm Café & Nursery – morning tea amongst palms and subtropicals
• Tumbleweed Garden Centre – unique coastal plant specialists
• Home Fresh – growers and retailers of hydroponic vegetables and herbs
• Glen Dougal Nurseries – be surprised! – and enjoy a packed lunch here
• Protea Patch – specialist producer and retailer
• Exotica – paradise for bromeliad collectors
• Morris and Sames – pottery tileworks and café
• Vineyard Hyperion – one of Matakanas best for a wee tasting to polish of the day
• 5.30 pm Bus returns to Walton Park

ACCOMODATION OPTIONS

• WALTON PARK MOTOR LODGE, 2 Walton Avenue, Warkworth,
  Ph 09 425 8149, Fax 09 425 8564, Web waltonpark.co.nz. Rooms $95 to $115.
• SANDSPIT MOTOR CAMP, 1334 Sandspit Rd, Warkworth, Ph/Fax 09 425 8610.
  Cabins $50, campsite $13

REGIONAL INFORMATION

• www.warkworth-information.co.nz, Ph 09 425 9081

IPPS CONTACT & REGISTRAR

• Brain Frost
  Phone 09 299 9085 (a/h) or 09 294 8771 (bus),
  Fax 09 299 9084 or 09 294 8774
  EMAIL jenny@rainbowpark.co.nz

Registrations close 5 February - Registration form here