you AUGUST 4 2012
magazine
DINE FOR FREE WIN $100 dollars worth of vouchers
STREET SMART What we’re wearing in Ashburton
STOLEN CHILDHOOD ME made me who I am
STACEY
CARR
Olympic veteran loves life after hockey
YOU social scene
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Stacey Carr and Charlie McKerchar have made their home in Ashburton, and are planning to marry on Stacey’s family farm.
YOU cover story
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5 After playing at the Athens and Beijing Olympics Stacey Carr is watching the London Games from Ashburton. Carr has gone from living and breathing hockey, to working behind a desk, day in, day out. The former Black Stick talks to Erin Tasker about tackling the next phase of her life.
Life after hockey
F
or seven years, Stacey Carr’s life was dedicated to hockey. It was a life which took her around the world – including two Olympic Games – and made her a household name; but two years ago the real world came calling. Two serious knee injuries, a loss of passion for the sport, and a yearning to live a real life saw her announce her retirement from international hockey following the Delhi Commonwealth Games, and take up a position as marketing manager and logistics co-ordinator for the family business, Carr Agricultural Limited, back in her home town of Ashburton. Now, she and partner Charlie McKerchar are here to stay. They’ve bought a small lifestyle block on the outskirts of Tinwald and soon they’ll start planning their wedding. After three years, Charlie got down on a bended knee during the couple’s recent three-week holiday to Vietnam. Stacey couldn’t be happier to be engaged, and back living in the real world. She said she missed so many events and occasions – including many of her friends’ 21sts – due to her
hockey career, and now as her group of friends move onto the weddings stage of life she’s determined to be at each and every one. It’s a long way from her former life as one of New Zealand’s top hockey players, but life is good. Stacey grew up on her family’s Mayfield farm, attending Lismore School before heading off to boarding school at Rangi Ruru in Christchurch, where her talent started shining through. Hockey wasn’t always her thing though. “Mum tried to get me into it when I was about four but I was hopeless, so I went to rugby and played rugby until I was 10,” she said. That was in the days where kids that age still played tackle rugby; “the way it should be”, Stacey said. She grew up with three older brothers, who all played rugby, so she learned to be tough. She loved rugby, but hockey eventually lured her back, and this time she wasn’t bad. A left hander, when she first played she was all back to front, but on her second attempt Stacey
learned to do it right. Back then, she played up at the front; it wasn’t until high school that she became a midfielder, which was where people really took notice of her. But through her career she’s also added stints as striker and a half to her repertoire. When she first started out, Canterbury was the province at the top of New Zealand hockey. And after representing Mid Canterbury in her early days, Stacey was soon picked for Canterbury and wore the red and black at the Collier Trophy – primary hockey’s big tournament. But her big break came in third form (today’s year nine) when she was picked for the New Zealand Under-15 hockey side. When she made the New Zealand Under-21 team for the Junior World Championships at age 16, she knew she had the potential to go on to bigger and better things. That potential was realised at age 18. It was 2003 when Stacey received her first call-up to the Black Sticks. Making it to the top in sport as a teenager might not be unusual these days, but back then, Stacey was a rarity.
“When I got in there was only a couple of us, and the rest were a lot older,” she said. But playing with such experienced players proved to be extremely valuable; she learned a lot of what she knows today, from those players. Her first tour of duty with the Black Sticks was to Japan in 2003, but the biggest learning curve came a year later when she was named in the squad for the Athens Olympics. There, she realised a life-long dream in the city where it all started, all those centuries ago. “I remember watching Sydney (2000) and thinking that would be cool to go to one day but I never thought then I would be at the next one,” she said. For her, the Olympics was the ultimate. If she had a choice between a world championship win, or an Olympic gold medal, the Olympic gold would win out every time. And while she didn’t come home from either the Athens or Beijing Olympics with a medal around her neck, she did return with a host of incredible memories. • Continued over page
YOU cover story
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PHOTO KIRSTY GRAHAM 310712-KG-066
Her workplace used to be the hockey turf, and now she has an office at her family’s Tinwald business which looks out over tractors.
An Olympic village is an amazing place to be, she said. Rubbing shoulders with some of your country’s, and the world’s, best athletes was an experience to remember. “And being one whole big team, not just hockey – it’s everything else too – was quite cool,” she said. Stacey said the New Zealand Olympic Committee did a great job of creating a culture within the village for the team; New Zealand traditionally had the best set up in the Olympic village. “For your first Olympics you’re blown away by meeting all the people, and it can take away from your focus,” she said. And that was the danger at such an event; athletes would get caught up in what the event was and where they were, rather than focusing on the competition side. While there had been reports of wild parties, drunken nights and endless sex in past Olympic villages, for most athletes like Stacey, that wasn’t what the Olympics were about. Yes, there was the odd party, but it was important to keep that side of the Olympics until after you’d done your first job – performing for your team, she said. Stacey hadn’t been on many overseas hockey trips before the Olympics, so 2004 was a big learning curve all around. Due to the high terrorism threat following the September 11 attacks, security was high. “The security is unreal, it’s like going through an airport every day,” she said. But as a result, the athletes feel safe at all times. In Athens the team finished sixth; in Beijing … well, Stacey and her team-mates of the time prefer not to talk about that. It wasn’t so good; the side lost all five games in pool play and ended up 12th out of 12 teams. This year’s team should do a lot better, according to Stacey. But anything can happen at the Olympics and with a number of new players in the side, they needed to be careful they didn’t find themselves overawed by the occasion. If they do come back with gold medals around their necks, there will undoubtedly be thoughts of ‘what if’ flashing through Stacey’s mind. At 28, she could well have still been there had she not retired. “I’d be stoked for them, it would be awesome for New Zealand hockey for the men or women to medal, but at the same time it would be, like, ‘I wish I had been there’,” she said. Last year the Black Sticks were third at the Champions Trophy – their best ever finish – and at the last Commonwealth Games in Delhi, they won silver. That was Stacey’s last big tour with the Black Sticks and they came agonisingly close to gold. It was after that, that Stacey decided to pull the pin on a long and prosperous career. It won’t be easy watching the Black Sticks play in London, she said talking to the Guardian before the first match. “When you watch it on the TV and you see the build-up and some of the stadiums and things, you think ‘wow, that looks cool,’ but I’m excited about watching it,” Stacey said.
7 “I think watching it I will wish I’m there, but I haven’t missed all the build-up.” That build-up includes the months of training and all of the lead in games and tournaments. And unlike rugby players, the Black Sticks don’t get paid the big bucks for all that work. Hockey in New Zealand isn’t professional. It relies on funding from SPARC and how much it gets, depends on performance. But at the same time, players have to commit enough time to the sport that it makes it difficult to hold down a job. It’s a vicious circle. “In an Olympic, world championships or Commonwealth Games year, you couldn’t really work. You could try and do a little bit but that was the hardest thing,” she said. “I found the whole time I always wanted to be involved in the family business somehow, but because I ended up based in Auckland, I couldn’t.” She did manage to study and fit in some work. In 2010 she was injured for half of the year so she worked for six months, and then she went to Auckland where she had to live on that money for the next six months. Family support is the key for athletes like Stacey; she doesn’t know how she would have done it had it not been for the support of dad Greg and mum Glenys. They’ve not only supported her when needed, they’ve also followed her around the world. The support she received from Mid Canterbury was also important; like grants from
Rotary clubs and the Ashburton Trust. If she’d come from a bigger centre, Stacey said those opportunities wouldn’t have been there. But there comes a time in everyone’s career where they have to say enough’s enough. Knee injuries in 2007 and 2009 were the final nail in the coffin for Stacey, and in 2010 she pulled in the pin. “I’d just had enough; I was sick of the training and wanted to work,” she said. “I had got to a point where I wasn’t enjoying it like I used to.” Returning to her roots in Ashburton hadn’t always been part of the grand plan, but she’d always had a desire to work in the family business. Charlie hails from Geraldine so the couple lived there for 18 months before Charlie took on an operations manager role within SealesWinslow. It was then they decided to put down roots in Ashburton. And while she’s ruled out a return to the Black Sticks one day, Stacey still picks up a stick from time to time, playing club hockey for Christchurch’s High School Old Boys. She has also agreed to turn out for Canterbury at this year’s nationals in August in September. “I love club hockey because it’s a great group of people and it’s a bit of fun, really,” she said. She’s come a long way from her first hockey days playing for Hinds/Lowcliffe, but for her hockey has now gone back to what it was back in those days; now she plays for the fun of it.
For your first Olympics you’re blown away by meeting all the people, and it can take away from your focus
Stacey Carr in her hey-day, playing hockey for her country.
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foodies YOU
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Chef’s journey to the wild side
by Sue Newman
J
eremy Ray’s love affair with food started in the kitchen of Christchurch’s Pancake Palace – washing dishes. He’s come from the bottom of the industry’s food chain and between that starting point and his position as Braided Rivers chef today, he’s worked in a wide range of restaurants from Christchurch to London and back. His culinary career includes several years at Pedros in Christchurch, a stint at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a London pub and restaurant built in the 1600s, three years with White Tie Catering, providing food for anything from a dinner for 10 to canapés for 600, and time with Mediterranean Foods. The February 2011 earthquake saw him without a workplace and that loss became Ashburton’s gain. “It’s the perfect job, it’s just unfortunate it’s an hour-and-a-half down the road,” Jeremy said. His wife works 9 to 5 in Christchurch and he works until well into the night in Ashburton and that makes their time together pretty valuable, he said. “It just makes you prioritise your life.” His dream of a perfect life as a chef doesn’t involve owning his own restaurant. “I’m quite realistic about that, it’s seven days a week, 24 hours a day. I enjoy doing other things like aquatic sports and travelling.” Like many chefs his favourite food is anything he doesn’t cook himself, but top of the list is his mum’s cooking, and that means a family roast. And like most chefs he knows people are always a bit anxious when he’s their guest. “I do appreciate it when people stick their necks out and cook for me. I’m happy with anything, even if it’s a bowl of pasta and a salad.” Jeremy isn’t a fan of celebrity chefs, he believes all contribute in their own way to making good food a great experience. “No-one is the be-all and end-all of food. I like the little market stall in the middle of Vietnam with the man who throws together a
bowl of noodles. He puts a lot of effort and a lot of skill into that.” Jeremy also loves the challenge of cooking food that’s been hunted and gathered from the wild. And that’s seen him take up the challenge of this year’s Monteith’s wild food challenge on a dish with the unlikely name of Gully to Gorse. He’s hoping his loin of rabbit, stuffed with a wild pork and chestnut stuffing and served on kumara dauphinoise with a blackberry glaze, will be a winner with the judges and the public. It’s a dish that’s come from his youth, from years spent deer stalking with his father, fishing in the Avon River and later shooting rabbits at the weekend. “I came to the realisation that there can be a long walk between opportunities, let alone catching your quarry. I felt it necessary to encapsulate the journey of the hunger in my dish in the name Gully to Gorse. The flavours encompass the various items that can be foraged along the way.” The competition involves matching beer (Monteiths of course) and food and Jeremy’s opted for an original ale. That, he says, nicely balances the subtle flavours of the rabbit and the rich fullness of the stuffing. “The hints of caramel in the original ale blend nicely with the kumara sweetness in the dauphinoise and the berry fruit characteristics you get in the aroma of the ale match the blackberry glaze.”
What is the challenge? One hundred and thirty restaurants around New Zealand have entered the beer and wild food matching competition. It’s judged by the professionals and the public. If you dine at one of the competing restaurants and enjoy their wild food entry, your vote helps them win the people’s choice section. This winner will join six finalists chosen from around New Zealand in a cook-off.
Ashburton diners can vote Braided Rivers to the top of the people’s choice list until August 12.
FOR FREE If you’d like an opportunity to enjoy Jeremy’s wild food dish at Braided Rivers, we have two $50 vouchers to give away. To enter, write your name, address and Braided Rivers giveaway on the back of an envelope and drop it in or send it to our Burnett Street office by 5pm on August 7. Alternatively send to goodies@theguardian.co.nz
YOU
9
Nothing says mmmm
like le chocolat
T
he origins of chocolate can be traced back to the ancient Mayan and Aztec civilisations in Central America. ‘Theobroma cacao’, meaning ‘food of the gods’, was prized for centuries by the Central American Mayan Indians, who first enjoyed a much-prized spicy drink called ‘chocolatl’. Chocolate was exclusively for drinking until the early Victorian times when a technique for making solid ‘eating’ chocolate was devised. The flavour of chocolate differs depending on the ingredients used and how it is prepared. Real chocolate is made from cocoa and its ingredients include cocoa butter (an expensive part of the cocoa bean) and, in some cases, up to 5 per cent vegetable fat. Compound chocolate will have less cocoa and/or more than 5 per cent vegetable fat than real chocolate and therefore doesn’t have the same fine qualities. It’s universally loved today as an ingredient in both sweet and savoury dishes, as a drink and simply as a treat that can be enjoyed in countless ways with countless flavours.
Decadent chocolate tart CHOCOLATE PASTRY: ¾ cup (180g) caster sugar freezer for 15 mins to rest. 1 cup (150g) plain flour 1 T golden syrup • Line with baking paper and fill with pastry 1/3 cup (40g) almond meal • Place chocolate and cream in a bowl over a weights or dried beans. Bake in oven for 10 1/3 cup (60g) Icing Sugar mins. saucepan of simmering water ¼ cup (30g) cocoa powder • Remove the paper and weights and bake for • Stir with metal spoon until melted. Remove 150g butter, chilled and chopped from heat a further 8-10 mins or until pastry is cooked 2 egg yolks • In a separate bowl whisk eggs, caster sugar through. Remove from oven. Reduce tem• Place the flour, almond meal, icing and golden syrup until thick and pale perature to 150°C conventional (130º C fan sugar, cocoa and butter in the bowl of a • Using a spatula, fold the chocolate mixture forced). food processor FILLING: into the egg mixture • Process until it resembles dry bread300g dark chocolate, chopped • Pour the filling into pastry shell crumbs ¾ cup thickened cream • Bake for 40 mins. Allow to cool for several • Add the egg yolks and process a further 4 eggs, lightly whisked hours or overnight 30 seconds • Turn onto a work surface, and knead lightly • Shape into a 20cm round disc • Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 mins to rest • Preheat oven to 200°C conventional (180º C fan forced) • Lightly flour the rolling pin. Roll pastry out on baking paper to form a 30cm disc At Carpet One we’ve got a huge range of carpet, vinyl’s and tiles. • Gentlylaypastryintoa24cmfluted Just give us a call and we will find the perfect floor for your home! tart pan with removable base; trim the edges. • Place in the
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Feel
Ashburton Street Smart :ĞŶŶ ŐƌĞŝŐĞ ƐĂŐĞͲďůĂĐŬ ΨϮϵϵ ĨƌŽŵ ŝĞƌĂ͘
PRETTY IN
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/ƐůĂ ŚĂŶĚďĂŐƐ ŝŶ ƉŝŶŬ ĂŶĚ ŵŝŶƚ͕ Ψϴϵ ĨƌŽŵ ŝĞƌĂ͘
By Susan Edmunds
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Heather Smythe /͛ŵ ǁĞĂƌŝŶŐ Ă ŵŝdž ŽĨ ŶĞǁ ĂŶĚ ŽůĚ ƚŚŝŶŐƐ ĂŶĚ ƚŚŝŶŐƐ /͛ǀĞ ďŽƵŐŚƚ ĨƌŽŵ ŽǀĞƌƐĞĂƐ͘ DLJ ĐŽĂƚ ĐĂŵĞ ĨƌŽŵ 'ůĂƐƐŽŶƐ͕ ŵLJ ĚƌĞƐƐ ĨƌŽŵ DĂdž ĂŶĚ ŵLJ ŚĂŶĚďĂŐ ĨƌŽŵ &ĂƌŵĞƌƐ͘ DLJ ƚƐ ĂƌĞ ĂďŽƵƚ ĮǀĞ LJĞĂƌƐ ŽůĚ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞLJ ĐĂŵĞ ĨƌŽŵ ŽďďůĞƌƐ /ŶŶ ŝŶ dŝŵĂƌƵ͘͘ dŚĞ ũĞĂŶƐ ĐĂŵĞ ĨƌŽŵ ƵƐƚƌĂůŝĂ ĂŶĚ / ďŽƵŐŚƚ ŵLJ ǁĂƚĐŚ ĨŽƌ ΨϮϬ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ 'ƌĞĞŬ /ƐůĂŶĚƐ ďƵƚ ŝƚƐ ƐŽŵĞƚŚŝŶŐ ĞǀĞƌLJŽŶĞ ĐŽŵŵĞŶƚƐ ŽŶ͘
Moana Taylor ,Ğƌ ĐůŽƚŚĞƐ ĂƌĞ Ă ŵŝdž ŽĨ ůŽĐĂů ďƵLJƐ ĂŶĚ ŚŽůŝĚĂLJ ƉƵƌĐŚĂƐĞƐ͘ DLJ ƐĐĂƌĨ ŝƐ ĨƌŽŵ >ƵƐŚŝŶŐƚŽŶƐ ĂŶĚ ŵLJ ĚƌĞƐƐ ĨƌŽŵ DĂdž ŝŶ ŚƌŝƐƚĐŚƵƌĐŚ͘ / ďŽƵŐŚƚ ŵLJ ŶĞĐŬůĂĐĞ ĨƌŽŵ &ƵƐŝŽŶ ŐĂůůĞƌLJ ĂŶĚ ŵLJ ƟŐŚƚƐ ĐĂŵĞ ĨƌŽŵ &ĂƌŵĞƌƐ͘ DLJ ƚƐ ĂƌĞ ĨƌŽŵ ^ƚĞƉƉŝŶŐ KƵƚ͘
EĞŵŽ ƐĂŐĞ͕ ΨϮϱϱ ĨƌŽŵ ŝĞƌĂ ĂŶĐƵŶ ŐƌĞŝŐĞ ƐĂŐĞͲďůĂĐŬ͕ ΨϮϰϵ ĨƌŽŵ ŝĞƌĂ
dŽďLJ ƉĞĂƌů ŐƌĞLJͲĐĂŶĚLJ͕ Ψϭϵϵ ĨƌŽŵ ŝĞƌĂ
Barbara Tate
LEFT: ŽLJĨƌŝĞŶĚ ƐŚŝƌƚ ŝŶ LJĞůůŽǁ͕ ϭϭϵ͕ ĨƌŽŵ DLJ KƚŚĞƌ >ŝĨĞ͖ EĂŶĐLJ ĚƌĞƐƐ͕ ĂǀĂŝůĂďůĞ ŝŶ ĂƋƵĂ ĂŶĚ ŐƌĞĞŶ͕ ΨϭϮϵ͕ ĨƌŽŵ DLJ KƚŚĞƌ >ŝĨĞ ĂŶĚ ďŽLJĨƌŝĞŶĚ ƐŚŝƌƚ ŝŶ ůĂǀĞŶĚĞƌ͕ Ψϭϭϵ͕ ĨƌŽŵ DLJ KƚŚĞƌ >ŝĨĞ͘
DŽƐƚ ŽĨ ǁŚĂƚ /͛ŵ ǁĞĂƌŝŶŐ /͛ǀĞ ŚĂĚ ĨŽƌ LJĞĂƌƐ͕ ƉĂƌƟĐƵůĂƌůLJ ŵLJ ƚƐ͘ / ĨŽƵŶĚ ƚŚĞŵ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁĂƌĚƌŽďĞ ĂŶĚ ƚŚŝƐ ŝƐ ƚŚĞ ĮƌƐƚ ƟŵĞ /͛ǀĞ ǁŽƌŶ ƚŚĞŵ ĨŽƌ ϭϱ LJĞĂƌƐ͘ / ďŽƵŐŚƚ ŵLJ ƐŚŝƌƚ ĨƌŽŵ ^ŚĂŶƚŽŶ ĂŶĚ /͛ǀĞ ŚĂĚ ŵLJ ǀĞƐƚ ĨŽƌ ƐŽ ůŽŶŐ / ĐĂŶ͛ƚ ƌĞŵĞŵďĞƌ ǁŚĞƌĞ ŝƚ ĐĂŵĞ ĨƌŽŵ͘ DLJ ƐĐĂƌĨ ĐĂŵĞ ĨƌŽŵ Ă ĐŚĞŵŝƐƚ ƐŚŽƉ ŝŶ dĞŵƵŬĂ ĂŶĚ / ďŽƵŐŚƚ ŵLJ ďĂŐ ŝŶ ƵƐƚƌĂůŝĂ ϭϬ LJĞĂƌƐ ĂŐŽ͘ DLJ ƚƌŽƵƐĞƌƐ ĂƌĞ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ ůŽƚŚĞƐ ZĂĐŬ͘
YOU everyone has a story
11 YOU Y OU magazine writer Susan Sandys randomly chooses a number from the phonebook and c ho ttells ells the story of the person who answers.
EEVERYONE HAS A STORY BY SUSAN SANDYS B
Living life
to the fullest
A
Ashburton’s Rebecca Lambie.
PHOTO AMANDA JOYCE 260712-AJ-110
shburton’s Rebecca Lambie learned from an experience in her childhood to live life to the fullest. Rebecca was eight-years-old when she came down with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), causing extreme fatigue, permanent stomach aches and chronic headaches. “You just can’t be a total kid (with that type of illness),” she said. “I lost my personality.” It was a condition which would blight her life for the next five years. Teachers told her mother she was making up the symptoms, and was not learning anything so may as well not come to school. She went to her room and cried every day when she got home, and became a “pin cushion” as medical professionals tried to diagnose the illness. She lost her friends as she did not have the energy to communicate with people. At the age of 12 she began to get back some of her old energy, and became a competitive swimmer, training before and after school. She recovered from ME at the age of 13, but she was a changed person, someone determined to make the most of every minute of life. “It made me what I was,” she said. “I have not shut up since.” With a vibrant nature and joy-de-vivre she marched on into the rest of her life, and in her teens went sky diving, bungy jumping and white water rafting. Today she and husband Craig and their two boys Tom, 9, and Sam, 6, and their dog Millie are regulars on Mid Canterbury rugby and football fields each weekend. Both boys play football and rugby, and both also play mini-ball, and are getting into skiing, with the family having been up eight times this year already including with their school.
“We always go up as a family,” Mrs Lambie said. The pair were echoing the upbringing they had themselves had, being part of families which always did everything together. Mrs Lambie was brought up on a farm in Ohoka in North Canterbury, where her parents grew chickens for Tegal. “From the moment I could lift a bucket I was carrying feed for the chooks, and all school holidays working on the farm.” Her mum worked in town and her dad was the one who did all the school trips with her. “It was always the mothers and him,” she said. “I have the most amazing parents, I could always be honest with them and I want to install those values in my kids,” she said. Mr Lambie also grew up on a farm, on Lambies Road at Pendarves, and the couples’ boys are fourth generation Ashburton Borough School students. Mr and Mrs Lambie own Taylors Motels in Ashburton, having moved from Christchurch about eight years ago to run the business. Last year they employed a manager so are able to live off-site, but are still involved in working in the business. They have this year lost 20 kilograms each by undertaking the Cohen’s diet, another thing the couple decided to do together. “I always looked at the family photos, there was always the two chubby people there. Every year we said ‘This year we are going to lose weight’, and every year we would put on another one to two kilos,” she said. Being fitter and healthier meant she could be involved all the more in school and other family activities. “You jump down the stairs going to the school and you feel like you can run now, I don’t feel I have to walk.”
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Miranda’s
great gardens YOU
growth industry by Sue Newman
T
Miranda Sinton, the reluctant gardener.
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hree years ago, if you’d asked Miranda Sinton what she’d be doing today, the last thing she’d have said was making a living from plants. Today she owns a garden centre but admits that other than growing vegetables, she still can’t call herself a gardener. Three years ago Miranda Morrow was part way through her OE with the man who’s now her husband Matthew Sinton. They were skiing in Canada, the States was next on the list and life was simple and care free. That all ended with a phone call from her mum. Her parents Nicky and Mark had bought a building, they couldn’t find a tenant. They needed help. That building had been a garden centre and they thought it would provide her with a new business opportunity – perhaps in plants? The offer came from left field. Miranda knew nothing about gardening, had never run a business before and the deal was that whatever she did, it had to happen quickly. Add to that, the business option meant a return to Ashburton, something she thought she’d never do. To her surprise she found herself toying with the idea, playing with possibilities. It was an idea that wouldn’t go away. “It instantly appealed. I knew I’d enjoy it, it was something I could sink my teeth into, something big – and it’s been an amazing journey.” Persuading North Island farmer and high country shepherd Matthew that building a new life in Ashburton could work was probably the toughest part of the deal. She won him over, sold him on the idea of starting a new career himself as a dairy farmer and the deal was sealed. Looking back, Miranda says she had no idea she’d signed on for something that would absorb
almost every waking moment of her life and something that would see her grow from reluctant to passionate gardener. “Plants are extremely easy to fall in love with. I’ve read a lot of gardening books and it’s amazing in three years when you work every day with plants how much you learn, they’re an endless pool of knowledge.” She’s also amazed at how, with the right opportunity, you can almost in ignorance, fall into something, tread water at amazing speed until you start swimming and then finally begin to enjoy the water – once you know what you’re doing. “When we came into this we didn’t know much about business, much about anything really. It’s been a massive learning curve and the only way we’ve survived is taking each day as it comes.” As a couple they haven’t had a honeymoon, get to spend very little time together, and haven’t had a weekend off together in three years, but the rewards from owning and running their own business are immense, Miranda said. “It becomes addictive, however, owning your own business is hard work and you don’t realise that until you do it.” Their survival, she said, had everything to do with parental support, customer support and the willingness of gardeners to share their knowledge. “There are a lot of passionate, very knowledgeable gardeners around Ashburton and they’ve been a huge support. I also read a lot of gardening books. It’s amazing in three years what you learn when you’re working in it every day.” While she now has a huge store of gardening knowledge, Miranda says she’s no closer to becoming a gardener in the practical sense. Lushingtons consumes most of her life and if there’s any time left over she spends that catch-
YOU great gardens
ing up with friends or pottering around in her vege patch. “Yes. I dream of having a garden, but now at night when I walk around the centre, this feels like my garden.” Her perfect garden would include plenty of roses, although her favourite changes week by week, plenty of rhododendron and of course plenty of vegetables. Her business is constantly evolving and she tries to keep pushing the boundaries in terms of where it grows. As a garden centre owner, she’s
younger than most of her counterparts, one of the new wave of generation Y adults who are becoming passionate about growing things and self sufficiency. If the garden centre hadn’t come along, Miranda suspects she’d have still been involved in something to do with farming. Growing plants is a bit like farming, she says, they still need care, they still need nurturing. It’s just farming on a smaller scale. Her business has become something of a family affair. Mum Nicky is an employee and
13
she’s as passionate as Miranda about the business and like her daughter packs in the hours, usually working six days a week. Brother Ben is also involved, as a supplier of meat to her garden centre’s cafe, husband Matthew is called in when there’s heavy work to do, but dad Mark is holding out. He’s happy at home on the farm. Miranda’s single minded focus on her business earned her a place among the country’s best on the finalists’ list in this year’s New Zealand Nursery and Garden Industry awards.
YOU social scene
14
Methven Theatre Company’ss Little Shop of Horrors production
210712-TM-114
TETSURO MITOMO 210712-TM-109
Above (from left) – Jane Ferguson, Fiona Martin and Scott Martin.
Above – Lindsey Holland and Leo Gilpin. Right – Murray Dickson and Julie Clements. Below – Alex Todhunter, Margot Kyle and Prue Harper.
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Above – Viv Barrett, Learna Madden and Khalia Madden. Below – Kate Anderson and Joan Dolan.
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Below – Morgan Brough, Carmen Walters and Judy Lyttle.
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YOU social scene
15
Bride of the Year
PHOTOS KIRSTY GRAHAM 140712-KG-222 140712-KG-212
Above (from left) – Krystal Morresey, Kate Moses, Paula Roulston and Emmily Harmer.
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Above – Jenny Soal and Jo Peacock.
Above – Murray Price, Nicole Williams, Caroline Buys.
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Above – Nathan Pierce and John Grieve.
Above – Stephanie Hansen and Dawn Grieve.
Has your windscreen got a chip or a crack? Need to fix it quickly and effectively! Call Owen or Wayne at Wilson’s Windscreens and get the best advice to repair or replace your windscreen.
140712-KG-220
Above – Monika Ritchie and Diana Kerr.
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38 Kermode St, ASHBURTON Ph: 307 9110 EASYPAY® OPTION MEANS ALL YOU PAY IS THE ADVERTISED PRICE PLUS INSURANCE & CREDIT FEES. EASYPAY® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF SMITHS CITY (SOUTHERN) LIMITED. MINIMUM PURCHASE FOR EASYPAY® OPTION IS $499 (OTHER PAYMENT OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE LESS THAN $499). ALL FINANCE OFFERS ARE SUBJECT TO NORMAL CREDIT GRANTING PROCEDURES. AN INSURANCE CHARGE AND CREDIT FEES ARE REQUIRED. A DEPOSIT MAY BE REQUIRED ON COMPUTERS, MOBILE PHONES, CAR AUDIO PRODUCTS AND NEW ACCOUNTS. INTEREST IS CHARGED FROM THE DATE OF PURCHASE, HOWEVER IF YOU COMPLETE THE ACCOUNT IN FULL WITHIN THE EASYPAY® OPTION PERIOD ALL YOU PAY IS THE ADVERTISED PRICE PLUS THE CREDIT FEES AND INSURANCE CHARGE. WEEKLY PAYMENTS IF STATED ARE BASED ON A 36 OR 36 MONTH TERM AND INCLUDE BOOKING AND CREDIT FEES, INSURANCE & INTEREST CHARGE. SELECTED COMPUTERS, GAME CONSOLES & SOME PROMOTIONAL ITEMS ARE NOT AVAILABLE IN CONJUNCTION WITH DISCOUNT OR EASYPAY® OPTIONS OFFERS. UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, DISPLAY ACCESSORIES ARE NOT INCLUDED. DEPENDING ON COLOUR AND COMBINATION, SOME LOUNGE FURNITURE MAY HAVE TO BE ORDERED TO CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS. ALL OFFERS PRICES IN THIS ADVERTISEMENT ARE VALID FOR A MAXIMUM OF SEVEN DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION OR WHILE STOCKS LAST. SOME PRODUCTS MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE IN SOME STORES.
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