YOUR INDUSTRY
Cosy Cat Orchard owners Christine Herbert (left) and Diana Pearce
Cosy Cat Orchard Trading the city life for a lifestyle block in the Bay of Plenty has been the best move for first-time orchardists Christine Herbert and Diana Pearce. By Helena O’Neill Christine wanted a change from the corporate life after many years working in the public transport sector and set about convincing partner Diana that life on the land was the way to go. “It’s something completely different for us. I’d always thought that I would like to do something horticultural, or something on the land with a lifestyle block or something. My job was to convince Diana that she wanted to do that too.” While researching what they wanted to grow, the pair visited a passionfruit orchard at Katikati and fell in love with the idea of growing the fruit. “They had a few redeeming features about them: the fruit dropped on the ground, they grew on six-foot structures so you didn’t need ladders, they didn’t have thorns, they didn’t have complicated after-harvest processing like macadamias.” The couple decided to take a chance and grow their passionfruit under cover, Diana says. 38
The ORCHARDIST : APRIL 2021
“We took a bit of a gamble with how we are growing them, we didn’t go down the traditional route of growing them under hail cloth. We’re growing them under high crop tunnels so they’re sort of half inside and half outside. We did that with the hope of growing good quality.” She says the tunnels reduce fungal diseases while allowing them to have a more controlled environment for the vines. “They seem to really love growing under the tunnels.”
...the tunnels reduce fungal diseases while allowing them to have a more controlled environment for the vines.
