YOUR INDUSTRY
Tātau Tātau Horticulture general manager, Clare Easton (left), with TTH and Ngati Pāhauwera Commercial development chair, Tom Keefe and Ohuia Incorporation chair, Rangi Manual (right)
Wairoa trial orchard paves the way for local iwi A global pandemic, multiple lockdowns and some very wet Wairoa weather have failed to thwart ambitions to use horticulture as a vehicle for better land use and better lives for whānau. By Kristine Walsh Tātau Tātau Horticulture (TTH) welcomed 12 new cadets to its fledgling horticulture scheme, signalling the start of both their employment and the launch of an exciting new planting programme. The pōwhiri at Kihutu Marae, Wairoa, was a joyous occasion. TTH general manager Clare Easton says getting the planting programme up and running has certainly been a challenge, particularly given the country plunged into yet another Level 4 lockdown the day after it launched. She says the group are determined to get to a place where local iwi, and Wairoa in general, get to benefit from initiatives that make better use of land; provide meaningful long-term employment; and boost the local economy.
42
The ORCHARDIST : NOVEMBER 2021
“I started this job in February and like the rest of the horticultural industry, we have had a lot to overcome,” Clare says. In the second week of October, those new cadets, along with a small army of extra hands, planted out the first development of Envy apples and a small trial of Piqa Boo pears. The plantings were spread over a ten-hectare portion of Ohuia Incorporation's Tara Block, just 15 minutes from Wairoa township. “We had done months of preparation but there was definitely a sense of urgency in that Wairoa has experienced huge amounts of rain and we just had this small window of opportunity between weather fronts,” Clare says. “We put out a call for whānau to help our own
