Macadamia Field Day

Last Monday we headed off to Torere which is just around the coast from Opotiki. Our hosts and co-operative cordinators are Vanessa on whose land the nursery and orchard stand, and who has done most of the plant trials over the last 25 years and Rod who does a lot of the physical stuff. They also have jobs in Gisborne. We are a mixed group - me and Duncan and 1 other grower, two garden enthusiasts and 3 older earthmothers - who not withstanding rolled up in a petrol car with Kathmandu boots and jackets.

Before we get down to the macadamias Vanessa tells us about the pohutukawa tree behind her. It has slumped down the bank and where the branches hit the ground it has let its aerial roots take hold and it now covers about 1/2 an acre. The Tree people keep coming back to verify all branches are from the same tree. It has been dated as 600 years old and is certainly older and bigger than the one in Te Araroa which we checked out on our way home. "Does it have a name?" asks earthmother. "No, its just a tree"

The branches form little caves of leaves. The Maori would mend their waka in its shade.

Depending on the variety macadamias will be harvested from May to November. All the varieties  Torere has are droppers - meaning that you dont pick off the tree you wait till they fall. There is an outer green husk - a bit like a walnut and once they drop it splits after a few days drying to reveal the really tough shell underneath.

The leaves can be quite spiky and prickly.

This one has grown too tall and upright. This variety may be discarded.

This gives you an idea of the finished product tree wise.

This is a very productive tree

Rod shows us how the outer part comes off.

With our very warm autumn there is the odd rogue flower. The smell is fabulous and apparently the apiarists like to put their hives in to "heal" any underproducing hives. Murmurs amongst the earthmothers  "How wonderful"

In full bloom (against clipboard.)

Some of the very large nuts split into two separate nuts which are much harder to shell, so we are not getting that variety. In this next picture you can almost see the split line.

Mr Mac Adam was the first person to spot the trees in Australia which is the country of origin.

In the nursery

Vanessa does all the grafting in the nursery - she does it in the week before full moon which was why we had to do a pretty quick decision to get into macadamias as it was the last week before the full moon while the sap was still flowing. Vanessa gets a significantly higher strike than other nurseries. Claps of joy from the earthmothers. But lets face it, Vanessa has been doing it for a whole lot longer than the usual nursery worker.

The blue is the wax coating to protect the graft.

We head back for lunch which we were asked to bring ourselves. The earthmothers get out their quinoa and white bean salad. (we have sandwiches). We try Vanessa's macadamia pesto which is super delicious and Rod demonstrates the harvesting machine and we all have a go. then we try the nut cracking machine - the taste is more like coconut in these fresh macadamias

We check out the compost bins which they put the green husks in. The earthmothers murmur "Putting back to mother earth" but I can't help but think of the best part which is taken away. Worm water and seaweed fertilizer are also used. Great acclaim from the earthmothers

After lunch we spot our own plants. Can you see the green spouts from the blue wax area which indicate the graft has taken? We have 250 of this variety A4 coming to our place.

They must be tended weekly to stop the rootstock from pushing through

At the base of this graft the rootstock is pushing through and Vanessa works to pull these buds off.

OK I've got a bit carried away with taking bud photos.

This is our other variety - A 203. It is stronger and we will use it as a wind break. The leaves are very big and spiky

And this is next years rootstock for our plantings in 2018

Here are the earth mothers.

We go up with Rod to see a more established planting of A4 trees. They are expecting the Topp Twins on Thursday to film a segment for their Topp Country series. Rod is not looking forward to it!
 It all seems quite do-able for me and Duncan. After 3 we head off further around the coast and stop for the night at the Te Kaha apartments. They are a little rundown but the views and the sunset are mesmerising.

Next day we continued on around the coast - of course from Ruatoria on Duncan knows the road so well. We stopped at the Manuka honey place at Te Araroa and for a bit of lunch at Tolaga.

Church at Raukokore