YOUR LEVY AT WORK
GROWER’S LIFESTYLE ‘LANE CHANGE’ Words by Elaine Fisher
Robyn Wickenden at work on the Mya Enterprises tamarillo orchard in Northland
Each of the 2,200 trees on the Mya Enterprises tamarillo orchard are identified by a number and letter code, and during weekly checks their health and productivity is recorded on an app. Those details are transferred to a spreadsheet enabling owners Robyn Wickenden and Aaron Davies to quickly identify pests and disease or other issues occurring on the orchard. The methodical and IT approach to orchard management is unsurprising given that Robyn has 29 years of experience in corporate accounting and Aaron 32 years in IT. “We bring a different approach to traditional horticultural management, but I think skills from the business world are really helpful in the horticultural industry,” says Robyn, who is chair of the New Zealand Tamarillo Growers Association and a member of Women in Horticulture. The couple made what Robyn calls “a lane change rather than a sea change” in 2016 when they decided to leave corporate life and Auckland’s North Shore with its sea views, for a rural location inland from Whangarei.
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NZGROWER : MAY 2021
“We both wanted something different that we could do together. We had always had a well producing vegetable garden so decided to look at horticulture.” The couple investigated avocados, olives, growing grapes for wine, and market gardening. “We looked at a market gardening property which had a few spindly tamarillo trees and decided to find out more about growing them.” That research revealed that tamarillos are a tricky crop to grow, and that not a lot of information about their management is available. However, undaunted, Robyn and Aaron decided they were up for the challenge. “In November 2016 we bought a four-year-old tamarillo orchard.”
…tamarillos are easy to grow and hard to keep alive… The catch phrase the couple have posted on the NZ Tamarillo Growers Association webpage, “tamarillos are easy to grow and hard to keep alive” sums up what has become a truism for the industry since the tomato potato psyllid and the disease liberibacter which it carries, began infecting trees in New Zealand in 2008.
