YOUR INDUSTRY
WE'VE GOT IT COVERED Words by Anne Hardie
Dom Ferretti in the midst of a cover crop
Green cover crops using an assortment of seeds with different root profiles have replaced the copious amounts of compost Dom Ferretti and Jeanette Ida used to make on their organic market garden near Nelson. Plants with roots to open up the soil that add nitrogen and other nutrients or produce flowers to attract beneficial insects, are all part of the mix for the regenerative growing methods they have adopted. The couple operate their business, Ferretti Growers, just under Mount Heslington on the edge of Brightwater where they grow half a hectare of vegetables outdoors, plus 600m2 under plastic, with most packed into weekly boxes for their regular customers. They’ve been organic growers since 2009 – following Dom’s previous career as a 20 NZGROWER : JUNE 2021
climate change scientist – beginning in the Coromandel Peninsula and moving south to Nelson where they are fully certified with OrganicFarmNZ (OFNZ).
They’ve streamlined their business to grow the traditional staples for their customers, but enjoy growing a few specialty lines as well such as jalapeños, tomatillos and globe artichokes For a long time they sold the bulk of their produce through the Nelson Saturday Market and Farmers’ Market, and spent thousands of dollars on compost ingredients to put into the soil. The markets didn’t suit all their
customers and the compost was expensive to produce, so they sought a different way of doing things. That led them to their OMG – organic market garden – boxes that they deliver once a week to their Nelson and Tasman customers, or that get picked up from the farm. Many are happy with a mystery box of seasonal vegetables, and others who like to plan their meals through the week are more specific with their order. They also offer a ‘feed the tribe’ box full of seconds which still have all the nutritional value, but at a lesser cost which makes the money go further for large families. “Growers are changing a bit to suit the needs of their customers and I think there is more of a need for deliveries now. Since Covid-19 (and the lockdown) people are careful about what they put back into their life.” They’ve streamlined their business to grow the traditional staples for
